United We Stand: Open the Game!
by DarkLord98
Summary: Remnant is doomed for a dark and bleak future, but what if someone who knew of the future arrived onto Remnant with an...Bizarre ability, and a weapon that awakens the power within even the most simple of souls? Let's see what happens when a young man with far too much knowledge attempts to change the future. Contains an MC with Gamer Semblance, AU backstory for certain characters.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: What's going on folks, welcome to the first chapter of my first RWBY fanfic, and man, I'm loving the fresh smell** **! But, this certainly isn't exactly the same as the one described on my profile.** **No, this one's a bit more... _special_ , since it's a three-way** _(Oooh myyy...)_ **a three-way crossover, dammit Takei...**

 **But yeah, I've been working on this bad boy for a while now, and had to draw some images for this, which I'll be posting onto my Deviantart as the Story goes along, to avoid any spoilers. Also, I'll be taking some liberties with certain characters, mainly with Semblances and backstories of certain characters**

 **Also, as a quick note, I wrote this before The World of Remnant videos were put online, so please don't get uppity if something isn't canon.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **#Speaking through a Scroll#**

 **[Game Data]**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

The last thing one would expect when waking up is some guy in a black tux and red sunglasses rummaging through one's pockets, but that was the sight that awaited Edward H. Smith, and he responded in the only way he knew.

"GUH!" the man grunted as Edward's fist made contact with his face **[-12 HP]**. But the man didn't stay down for long, getting up as he rubbed his pained nose.

But that wasn't where Edward's gaze was directed to, but rather slightly above the man's head.

 **[Observation]**

 **Bear Gang Thug LV: 4**  
 **Stand Potential: E**

 **HP: 42/54**  
 **MP: 40/40**

 **Current Mood: Startled, Annoyed**

 **An average thug from the Bear Gang, led by Hei "Junior" Xiong, the gang mostly dealing with information gathering and rentable thugs.**

 **EXP Yield: 25**  
 **Item Drop: 50 Lien**

"Don't ignore me, you bastard!" the man shouted. He drew a pistol from behind his back, aimed it at Edward, and fired.

"AAGGH!" Edward flinched, throwing his arms up in panic and expecting to feel the bullet entering his body … only to feel nothing.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see why he wasn't dead yet, and what he saw was the thug looking at him with a shocked expression, his red sunglasses falling off from his face.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" the thug screamed, looking at the bullet floating in mid-air. Was he dealing with some punk from a Huntsmen Academy?

"Well, this is … bizarre." Edward noted with a dumbfounded tone, staring at what was holding the bullet. It was a hand, connected to the left arm of a male figure clad in a grey and green superhero costume. The hands of a clock separating was emblazoned upon the middle of the helmet, where two orange lenses stared at the gun-wielding thug. The being's scowl served as a clear message of its displeasure at the attempted murder.

The circuit lines on the being's left arm glowed bright green and the bullet was surrounded in a green glow. The clock hands on the palm and back of the hand spun forward at a rapid pace, causing the bullet to rapidly rust before breaking apart.

 **[New Stand skill; "Break" has been unlocked!]**  
 **\- Break: When the Stand's hand makes contact with something for more than 3 seconds, 3-D's Grace can start causing that something to start breaking apart, the speed of breaking down increasing with continued contact.**  
 **Effect: 30 Damage, each additional second adding 10 more damage, each second inflicting 50% more damage.**  
 **Cost: 5 MP, +1 MP per second.**

Edward smiled as he stood up from the ground, feeling a small amount of joy at the thug's panicked expression. It evaporated when the man began firing his gun off again, but the being standing next to him responded in an impressive manner.

 _ **"YARORORORORORORO!"**_ the being roared replying with a volley of punches that sent the bullets ricocheting across the alleyway.

"Are you done?" Edward asked. The thug dropping his gun served as an adequate answer.

"Good." Edward smirked as the being slams the thug against the alley wall **[-52 HP]** , knocking him out, and ending the battle.

"Well, that could've gone bett—huh?" Edward picked up the gun, looking at it in slight surprise as a rectangle of small text appeared over the gun.

 **[Observation]**

 **9mm Automatic Dust Pistol**  
 **The standard Dust pistol that is used by government forces, civilians and criminals alike.**  
 **Ammo: 10/17**  
 **DMG: 30**  
 **Durability: 50/50**

Edward furrowed his brows as he read the description of his newly acquired gun. _'Huh, so I'm in RWBY, and I have The Gamer.'_ He noted, until his brain finally processed that info properly.

 _'HOLY SHIT! It's an actual Dust pistol, which only works on Remnant…which means I'm in deep shit.'_ He took in a deep breath.

"FUCKING SHIT!" he shouted, before turning to look at the being standing before the thug. 'So, ignoring The Gamer, why the fuck do I have a Stand?' he wondered, his mind going through possible answers.

While the ... thing behind him did look like a Stand—especially with how it rusted a Dust bullet, probably by rapidly aging the bullet if the clocks were any indication—it could be a Semblance that manifested as a spectral figure.

 _'But, even that doesn't quite add up …'_ his eyes wander to the unconscious thug. The thug's panicked shooting could've been either because he couldn't see the Stand, or because he could and reacted by shooting at it.

But, considering how Semblances seemed to more of an internal representation of the soul, the thing being a Stand wouldn't be an unreasonable guess. Plus, The Gamer alone could count as a Semblance.

 _ **"Stand, 3-D's Grace,"**_ Edward hears his Stand say, pointing at itself.

Edward nodded as 3-D's Grace disappears, its duty fulfilled. "So then, what to do with this guy?" He asked himself, looking at the thug. If his attire and title was any indication, then he was with Junior's crew, so he couldn't exactly let him walk away with the possible info about what he was capable of, especially if Junior was working with Cinder.

But if he merely shot him, then there would probably be an investigation, and possibly a gang coming after him. So, he'd have to dispose of his corpse.

But, on the other hand, he was without any form of ID, no money (although that could be alleviated by robbing the thug), and most importantly, and he was out on the streets with no place to go. Not to mention he was a person with good amount of power at his command, so finding some shadier form of employment wasn't out of question.

But on the other _other_ hand, he could just raise enough ruckus until Ozpin takes notice, or possibly the cops or some other huntsman takes notice, who would then contact Ozpin. Either way, he'd get Ozpin's attention. And he certainly didn't need this thug for that course of action.

"But before I do something hasty, I should check my **[Inventory]**." He said, a 40x60cm screen appearing in front of him with numerous square tiles representing item slots, but oddly enough, it wasn't empty.

 **Inventory:**

 **\- Verde Carnicero**  
 **Shift Weapon: Axe/Assault Rifle combination**  
 **Ammo: 20/20 [x3 Cartridges of 5.56x45mm Dust Rounds]**  
 **DMG_Melee: 80 Slash Damage**  
 **DMG_Ranged: 45 Pierce/Gun/Blast Damage**  
 **Durability: 1800/1800**  
 **A weapon that combines an Axe with an assault rifle. The maker of his instrument of death is unknown.**

 **\- Custom Scroll**  
 **A Communications device that is connected to the CCT System, capable of being used to contact others, used as a game controller, etc, etc…**  
 **Effect: Allows the user to contact other people.**  
 **Special Notes: This Scroll is custom made, by whom however, is unknown. The Scroll also doesn't have any numbers registered.**  
 **Durability: 600/600**

 **\- Arrow of the Stars**  
 **A Holy weapon forged from a meteorite, that infects anything it cuts with a virus that will either kill them, or it shall grant them a power beyond that of mortal beings.**  
 **Effect: When a human is damaged by this weapon, ?% chance of unlocking a Stand. Other effects are unknown**  
 **DMG: Varies between targets.**  
 **Durability: 15900/15900**

 _'This…this might actually become useful.'_ Edward thought to himself, his face set in stone as he shoved the Dust Pistol into the [Inventory], ignoring the fact that he was somehow not only in possession of his own RWBY-weapon—which he assumed was created by The Gamer—but also the arrow that can grant Stands. Which there should be only six of in existence ... in the JoJo world, not in Remnant, and definitely not in his **[Inventory]**.

"No, I should focus on this bizarre shit later, for now, **[Status]**." He says, causing another screen to replace the previous one.

 **Edward Smith LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 25/100**  
 **Stand: 3-D's Grace**

 **HP: 30**  
 **MP: 95/100**  
 **Aura: 117**

 **STR: 11**  
 **INT: 27**  
 **VIT: 10**  
 **WIS: 28**  
 **DEX: 12**  
 **AGI: 10**

 **Points: 0**  
 **Lien: 50**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:**  
 **Aura Unlocked: Your Aura has been unlocked, thus giving you limited protection from bullets.{Damage lower than your current Aura is deducted from your Aura, until it hits 0, then you will take damage normally.}**

"Well... I suppose that's fair." Edward sighed, rather disappointed at his stats, but he did find out a good amount of vital info. Mainly, when his Aura ran out, he'd be less durable than the average thug. And secondly, he'd need to knock out at least three more thugs in order to level up and earn points. Either way, he needed to make his way to Junior's Club.

Now if only he knew where the hell it was ...

"Too bad I don't have anyone that can … guide … me." Edward slowly turned his gaze to the unconscious thug, who was stirring slightly. Walking over to the man, he nudged the man with his left foot. "Oi, wake up, I need to ask you a few questions." Edward said as the man shakily rose, holding the back of his head in pain.

"Ugh, did somebody get the number of that truc—OH GOD NO!" the thug screamed as his memory of the last few minutes returned to him.

"Listen up Shades, because I'm not in the mood to repeat myself." Edward grabbed his attention by overlapping his own arm with 3-D-G's and pressed his hand against the concrete wall next to the thug's head, causing a perfect indention of his own hand to appear on it.

"U-Uh sure boss, whatever you want." The thug nervously nodded, sweating bullets as his mind filled in the blanks of what might happen if he refused to answer the teen's questions.

"First off, where am I?" Edward asked, at the very least wanting to confirm whether or not he's in Vale. And although the thug cowering before him seemed to be a part of Junior's gang, Edward wasn't naïve enough to think that someone who had a reputation as an information broker had underlings in merely one city, even if that city was home to one of the big four Huntsmen Academies.

"V-Vale, sir." The thug answered quickly.

"Okay then, did you see anything when your bullets failed to hit me?" Although he knew that his Stand should be invisible to those who don't possess a Stand of their own, he considered the possibility of those with Aura or a Semblance being capable of seeing Stands, since both Semblances and Stands were a manifestation of a person's soul, the only difference between the two being that one of them was Internal, and one of them was External.

Plus, he couldn't risk having this thug going around and blabbing about his Stand, so if he did see something when the bullets were stopped, then the man would share the fate of the first bullet.

"Um, no?" the thug wasn't quite certain why his current interrogator asked something like that.

"And lastly, I'm currently in need of fake IDs, would you happen to know where I might be able to acquire some?" He couldn't exactly be walking around Vale with no proper ID, or he'd be getting very familiar with the texture of a cell. And considering how Junior seemed like the type who dealt in other shady business besides information and renting thugs, the man shouldn't have that much trouble making some fake IDs, especially since the OS of Remnant's CCT seemed to have enough holes to make Swiss cheese green with envy.

Hell, if Jaune managed to get his hands on fake transcripts, then how hard would it be to get some Fake IDs added to the deal?

"M-My boss, Junior can help you with that." The thug answered, now a bit more confident of his chances to walk away from this situation in one piece. He wasn't paid enough to deal with some superhuman freaks.

"Good, now either give me directions or lead me there." Edward ordered, taking note that the indent left from his and 3-D-G's hand looks far older than the rest of the wall, the graffiti and paintjob cracking in a few spots.

"Just head on to the end of this alley, then turn right and at the end of that alley, turn left and the club will be right across the street." The thug pointed to his left, where the alleyway continues. On the off chance that things got violent, he wasn't going to get himself affiliated with this guy.

"Thank you." Edward said. The thug nodded and turned towards the other direction, just about ready to bolt. "Oh, and one last thing ..." Before the thug could run off, Edward grabbed the man's shoulder, using 3-D-G's strength to stop him from running off.

"if anybody asks, you and I never met, so forget about what happened when you shot at me, clear?" Edward asked, applying pressure to his hold, and gave the thug some _'extra incentive'_ to keep his mouth shut.

"C-Crystal." The thug's head bobbed rapidly, wanting very much to forget ever seeing this guy.

"Good." Edward smiled, letting go of the man, noticing how the spot he touched on his jacket now had a small clock on it, with a small marking of 3/3 next to it, but before he could investigate the oddity further, the man ran off.

Edward looked towards his Stand, who merely shrugged before disappearing. "Well, I suppose that's that." Edward sighed, starting his walk towards the direction the thug pointed towards. As he continued his walk, a thought occurred to him.

 _'Wait, do Stand abilities drain MP or Aura?'_ Deciding to find out, he called up his stat screen, noticing that his MP had dropped to 75. _'Okay, so whatever 3-D's Grace left on that thug cost me about 15 MP, and the trick with the rusting bullet and possibly the aged wall cost 5 MP each.'_

"Moving on, **[Options]**." He says, causing a new screen to open up.

 **Options:**

 **\- Activate HUD? [Y/N]**

 **\- Activate Minimap? [Y/N]**  
 **(Take note that when entering new dungeons or areas deemed as "Neutral" or "Enemy territory", the map will only record what you have seen first-hand + 6 meters around that.)**

 **\- Item drops to Inventory on acquisition? [Y/N]**

"Okay, WOW, yes on all of the above." Edward quickly turned all of the options ON, and suddenly, everything seemed that much clearer, three bars hanging at the corner of his peripheral vision, just transparent enough to not be a distraction, colored red, blue and grayish green, most likely signifying his HP, MP and Aura respectively.

And most helpfully, a small circle depicting the area around, with a green symbol of a hooded skull with the Stand arrow's head hanging from the end of the hood, the same symbol that now that he thought about it, was also on the side of Verde Carnicero, so that was probably him, the thought confirmed by the symbol staying at the center of the minimap no matter how he moved.

 _'Well, at least the symbol's pretty cool.'_ Edward notes, walking on, his mind analyzing the symbol, and the weapon in his **[Inventory]**. While he may not have any real training with a weapon, aside from shooting arrows and shooting target practice occasionally, the weapon was something that he felt comfortable using. It was for the most part, a rifle, with a second handgrip attached to the axe blade, which was also attached to the barrel.

And when, not if, he had no delusions of being instantly able to wield the weapon properly, it became clear that he wasn't going win a fight with it, he did have 3-D's Grace to rely on.

 _'Anyway, I guess I should start coming up with a game plan.'_ Edward scratches his chin as he turns right, entering yet another alley. Obviously, the best chance of his survival that he was morally comfortable with was Beacon Academy. More specifically Team RWBY, as they seemed to be the key pieces in Ozpin's little game if his show of favoritism was any indication. However, he couldn't exactly rely on that lazy bastard to do anything with the info Edward could share, considering how that old man seemed to be perfectly okay with shipping his students off to fight a war that they didn't even know about.

So, he'd have to either do all of it himself or not be a dumbass and tell the people who were actually fighting this war, the people who have the resources and will to do something. His best bets were Team RWBY and Ironwood, possibly even Qrow if he's told of what happens if he keeps going following Ozpin's plan, which seemed likely as even in the show, Qrow was aware that Ironwood's little ships didn't scare Cinder and that the enemy wasn't knocking at their door, but setting fire to their castle, as it were.

But, they probably wouldn't believe him if he told them everything at once, so his best bet was entering Beacon, which shouldn't be that hard if Jaune was able to BS his way in. The only downsides were that he'd have to entangle 3 other people into this mess, either his own teammates, or people from a team that one of the key players would end up in.

Plus, keeping quiet about Torchwick's part in all this would serve more useful, considering that the dapper bastard jumped the gun on the train operation, which was planned for when everything went to hell, and it would give him a chance to erase him from the equation without any good way to link the death to him. And afterwards, stay on the low as to not arouse any attention, and when the Vytal Festival's arena arrived, and final matches start, take care of Emerald.

Other targets that would need to be eliminated would be Mercury, but he didn't seem so gung-ho about the whole plan, so he could be ignored for a while, but Adam was a whole other deal, along with Neo.

* * *

But, as Edward was planning, he failed to follow one of the most important rules of life; Always look before you walk across the street.

"WHOA SHIT!" Something that Edward was promptly reminded of as the rear-end of a motorcycle came to sudden stop a mere inch of him, causing him to stumble back a bit. Regaining his footing, Edward takes a look at the motorcycle and its rider, a teen girl with flowing blonde hair, lilac eyes, dressed in an outfit that told that she was not only adventurous, but aware of her body and not afraid to flaunt it.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Sunlight bruiser\**  
 **Yang Xiao Long LV: 19**  
 **Semblance: Kinetic Feedback**  
 **Stand Potential: A**

 **HP: 220**  
 **MP: 80**  
 **Aura: 324**

 **Current mood: Relieved, Nettled**

 **Yang Xiao Long is a Student of Signal Academy who just got his Acceptance letter from Beacon Academy. Daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen, and Half-Sister of Ruby Rose.**

 **EXP Yield: 2500**  
 **Item Drops: Ember Celica, 13500 Lien, Bumblebee**

"HEY, watch where you're going, you could've gotten run over!" the blonde brawler shouted, getting off her bike to yell at the irresponsible guy who just walked straight onto the street. If she wasn't a skilled driver, he would've gotten turned into a roadkill.

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking about something, and I wasn't looking where I was going." Edward apologized, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, while he couldn't believe the insanely good luck he was having. Not only did he run into one of the more important people of the future events, but it seemed like he got dropped right into the events of the Yellow trailer.

But to be honest, all he could really do is either try and get the negotiations between Yang and Junior to go smoothly, or if that failed, take out some henchmen, and maybe take out one of the twins.

"Yeah, well, thankfully nobody was hurt." Yang walked her bike off the street, parking it near the entrance to Junior's Club, or the "Bear's Den", as the sign above it named it. "Besides, I was coming here anyway, so no harm done." She shrugged, turning off the engine.

"Oh, what info are you looking for?" Edward asked, prompting Yang to look at him in confusion. "I mean no offense, but you certainly don't look old enough to be drinking, so you're probably here for some info." He explains.

"I'll have you know, I'm considered a big girl." Yang responded slyly, crossing her arms under her breasts, pushing them upwards, but Edward kept his eyes locked on her face. This wasn't the time to get a boner, especially not in front of her.

"I'm sure. But listen, while I doubt that any of these bozos could actually harm a Huntsman academy student, especially one with a Semblance like yours—"

"Wait, how do you know I'm a student, or what my Semblance is?" Yang cuts him off, turning the flow of conversation. She certainly didn't recognize him from school, and Huntsmen Academies didn't hand out any personal info about their students, especially something so personal as their Semblance.

"Ah, I let that slip. Well, I figured you were from a Huntsman Academy, since I doubt those bracelets are just for show." Edward gestured to the sheathed forms of Ember Celica on Yang's wrists.

"And as for how I knew about your Semblance, my own Semblance, The Gamer informed me." Edward wasn't sure if he should reveal everything right off the bat, especially when Yang didn't seem to be trusting him. But, considering how personal info about Semblances seemed to be, explaining his own should prove to be a gesture of trust.

However, 3-D's Grace would stay as a secret until it came time to grant them a Stand of their own. And if the Stand Potential rating followed the rating system that Stand stats used, then Yang should be able to survive the Arrow, but he wasn't about to test that theory out on her...

"Okay, so what does it do?" she asked.

"It's a simple ability, but quite powerful. The Gamer allows me to live my life like a Video Game character, complete with Experience Points, Levels, Inventories and such." Edward proved this by opening his **[Inventory]** and taking out his Scroll.

"Oh, that's pretty cool." Yang had played a few games with Ruby, and although they were mostly fighting games, Ruby did own a few games that had those kind of things. Although, she played them mostly for all the different weapons.

"Wait, what Level am I?" she asked, honestly getting kinda curious about this ability. Most Semblances that she had seen were either some form of Elemental control, or a boost to a person's physical prowess, but something like this _"Gamer"_ sounded pretty interesting.

"19, and Junior's henchmen seem to be level 4." Edward answered, thinking about the implications. If a strong fighter like Yang was level 19, then what levels would more experienced huntsmen have, or a Maiden?

"Wow, that's… kinda pathetic." Yang noted. Edward shrugged at her answer, as it wasn't that surprising to him. Of course people with their Aura unlocked would have an easier time reaching higher levels, as they wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt while training.

"So uh, what Academy are you from?" Yang's rather innocent question caused Edward to freeze up. He couldn't exactly say that he was from any of the Huntsmen Academies, as they would at the very least have a record of their Students.

Settling on an answer, he finally spoke. "The thing is…I don't remember." Seeing Yang's skeptic look, he elaborated. "See, the thing is, the latest solid memory I have is me waking up in a nearby alley with one of Junior's Henchmen searching me for any loot." Technically not a lie, since the first memory he had on Remnant was that event.

"Okay, that's odd." Yang wasn't sure if this guy was telling the truth, but he didn't look like the lying type.

"Yeah, but the current theory I'm running with here is that when my Semblance awakened, my mind couldn't handle the strain, so any memory that wasn't essential for survival, like my family and birthplace got either locked away or erased." It didn't sound too crazy, since The Gamer did mess with the user's mind, allowing them to think clearly in a high-stress situation.

"Wow, that's pretty unfortunate." Yang couldn't imagine waking up one day with no memory of her family or past, only remembering some basic info about the world.

"Yeah, I guess my Semblance started a new save file." Yang chuckled a bit, glad that the guy wasn't depressed about his situation.

"So, game-boy, got a name? Mine's Yang, Yang Xiao Long." Yang asked as they walk towards the entrance.

"Well Yang, the name Edward Smith rings a few familiar bells." Edward answered as the door's open to reveal a staircase.

"Okay then Eddy, got any other things about your Semblance?" Yang asked. She had already figured that Edward had probably come to Junior's Club to see if the Information Broker had any information about him.

"Well, there's this trick I can do, it's called **[Create Party]**." Edward answered, as a blue rectangle appeared in front of Yang, asking whether she wanted to join his Party.

"Unless, I'm wrong, this should give you a temporary and limited version of my Semblance." He explained.

"Wow, do you talk to all the girls like this." Yang grinned, accepting the invitation.

 **[You have formed a party with Yang Xiao Long.]**

 **Party Effect: Party members will gain half of the EXP gained from enemies, even if they didn't defeat them, but you'll gain the full amount if you did defeat them. Each Party member will gain full Quest Reward EXP. Lien dropped from enemies will be given to the one who defeated the enemy.**

"Well, how else would I keep someone like you interested?" Edward fired back, dismissing the notice.

"Okay then, now what do you see floating above me?" Edward asked as they start walking up the stairs. Would a party member be able to see his Stand, like he was able to see a person's Stand potential? If so, then he'd have some explaining to do.

"It says… Edward Smith, and above that, The Gamer." Yang answered, looking above Edward's head.

Then Yang's eyes stopped when she sees a certain tidbit next to Edward's name. "Wait, you're Level 1?" Edward sheepishly scratched the back of his head, rather embarrassed of his low level.

"Yeah, I guess it's because of the whole lost memory or something like that." As Yang's eyes look under Edward's name and stats, her eyes widened and her eyes snapped to his crotch while a blush colored her face redder than Ruby's Crescent Rose.

"W-Wait, is this saying that you have 3 Di-" Yang began as Edward quickly starts doing damage control before certain implications can be made.

"N-NO, the D does _not_ stand for that!" Edward denied in a rather animated and flustered fashion, 3-D's Grace shaking its head frantically while crossing its arms to form a X.

"S-See, it's this thing." Edward pointed to 3-D's Grace, the grey-skinned Stand's blush spreading below its mask, as Yang to squints her eyes, apparently having trouble seeing the Stand. "Wait… can you even see it?" Edward asked, taking a look at 3-D's Grace, who's mirroring his confused expression.

"Well, I see a faint outline of something. So, what is this thing anyway?" Yang asked, looking at the spot where 3-D's Grace is standing, only seeing a faint, transparent outline of the Stand, like a blurred image from a faulty projector.

"I don't have all the details, but from what I can gather, it's something along the lines of my fighting spirit." Edward decided to answer with a rather vague explanation, partly to keep up the facade of an amnesiac, and partly because a full explanation would've brought up some uncomfortable questions that he couldn't answer.

"Huh, so it's like an extra Semblance; neat." Yang surmised, wondering how to get one of her own, mainly out of curiosity. She highly doubted that these Stands were something common, even among Huntsmen and Huntresses, since her dad or uncle would've probably told her or Ruby about them.

"Yeah, but acquiring one is way riskier than getting your Aura unlocked." Edward took out the Arrow from his **[Inventory]** , the info screen appearing as Yang looks at the Arrow.

"So uh, how'd ya come across this thing?" Yang asked, as Edward puts the Arrow back.

"To be perfectly honest, that's what I'd like to know." Edward dryly replied as the doors opened, revealing a bunch of people Edward couldn't bother memorizing dancing to the rhythm of the lights and music.

"So, do you want to ask your question from Junior first, or after me?" Yang asked.

"Either way is fine with me, but I think we'll have to wait." Edward shrugged, motioning towards the bar counter, where Junior, accompanied by the twins was talking with one Roman Torchwick, no doubt negotiating the price Roman would have to pay for renting some of Junior's henchmen for a few robberies. One of which he had to stop, hopefully in front of a Beacon staff member.

 **[New Quest: "Impressing Beacon" has been created!]**

Edward quickly dismissed the Quest notice as Yang turned to him.

"So tell me, what can this Stand of yours do?" she asked, rather curious of her new friend's mysterious ability. Would it have abilities similar to his Semblance, or could it do something different? She really hoped that the Stand could keep him safe, because things were going to get rough.

"Well, from what I can gather, 3-D's Grace can cause things it touches to age rapidly, and it's fast and strong enough to block bullets by punching them." Edward explained, wondering the limitations of 3-D's Grace's ability.

Since it could age things forward, could it age things backwards, similar to how Crazy Diamond healed things by reversing time for them? It could definitely age things more than 3 days at a time, so the name probably wasn't any indication of the Stand's abilities.

"Well, you're going to need it." Yang whispered, heading to the bar counter, Edward staying a few feet behind to assess the situation and provide help if, or more likely when shit hits the fan. _'In the meantime, I think I'll do a quick observation.'_ Edward mouthed Observation, focusing on Junior.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Black Bear\**  
 **Hei Xiong Jr LV: 15**  
 **Semblance: Quick Fix**  
 **Stand Potential: B**

 **HP: 170**  
 **MP: 120**  
 **Aura 329**

 **Current Mood: Pissed the fuck off, Regretting certain life choices, Slightly intoxicated**

 **Despite shortly retiring from Huntsmen business after graduating from Signal Academy, Hei Xiong Jr has managed to carve out a nice empire for himself among the shadier parts of civilization, his information network helping anyone with enough Lien to throw around. His Semblance, Quick Fix saving him countless times. However, years of staying in his bar has taken its toll on his fighting skills and Aura.**

 **EXP Yield: 2200**  
 **Item Drops: 21400 Lien, 5 Dust crystal packs**

Edward wasn't too surprised at the stat sheet, having somewhat figured that transforming weapons weren't something you could oh-so easily get a license for. He was however surprised by the brief description the observation gave about the man. He honestly thought that the man was a mere thug, but apparently he's a former Huntsman.

Although the part about him being in bad shape would explain how he got his ass handed to him by Yang.

 _'Now let's see what you two have to offer.'_ Looking at the twins' stat sheets, Edward was mildly surprised by what he found.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Bear's Apprentice\**  
 **Melanie Malachite LV: 8**  
 **Stand Potential: C**

 **HP: 80**  
 **MP: 80**  
 **Aura: 194**

 **Current Mood: Annoyed, Bored, Arrogant**

 **Sometimes referred as "Ice Bitch" by patrons and henchmen alike, Melanie Malachite is arrogant of her position in the Bear gang, considering herself above everyone else, save for Junior, having been taught how to fight by him. And recently, Junior unlocked their Aura, however neither her or Militia has made any progress in attaining a Semblance.**

 **EXP Yield: 900**  
 **Item Drops: 3400 Lien**

 **[Observation]**

 **/Bear's Apprentice.\**  
 **Militia Malachite LV: 8**  
 **Stand Potential: C**

 **HP: 97**  
 **MP: 70**  
 **Aura: 209**

 **Current Mood: Worried, Bored**

 **Militia Malachite, like her twin sister Melania, were adopted by Junior after their parents died when their village came under a Grimm invasion, and for that she is fiercely loyal to Junior. Her kind attitude to the patrons has made her more popular than her sister. However, she sometimes worries about her sister. She has had her Aura unlocked by Junior, and thinks she is close to awakening her Semblance, but wishes to keep it a secret from her sister, as to not upset her.**

 **EXP Yield: 950**  
 **Item Drops: 3600 Lien**

 _'Wow, talk about total opposites. I wonder what spurred Junior to adopt them?'_ Edward mused to himself. One of them was a total bitch, while one was a bit of a doormat, but he was truly surprised by the additional info about their relationship with Junior. He had honestly assumed that the twins were nothing more than some bratty rich kids who worked for Junior.

 _'It's showtime.'_ Edward flinched as Yang violently grabbed Junior's balls, causing the retired huntsman to whimper in pain.

* * *

Ever since he had started this little gang of his and started dealing in information brokering, Hei Xiong Jr had run into a wide assortment of people who each had to be dealt and handled with in various manners, your usual everyday customer who was asking him or one of his boys to smuggle in some illegal condiments you could deal with rather casually most of the time, depending on what they wanted delivered, when, where and how much. Easy money, and most of the time, no risk involved.

Some hotshot thief or less than reputable businessman coming in to rent some muscle, you had to deal with professionally. A good chance of danger, so you couldn't afford to go in half-cocked.

With huntsmen and huntresses, depending on the person, you could either treat them to a cold drink for old time's sake, hand over the info so they would leave, or pray to fucking Oum that they didn't decide to test whether or not they could make a perfect outline of one his boys on the wall by throwing toothpicks.

Risky as all hell, but thankfully the latter sort didn't appear all that often.

 _'This might be the second worst night of my life.'_ Junior thought, looking at the blonde minor currently holding his balls in an iron-vice of a grip. What was it about today that brought all the shit to his club?

First, Rick skipped so Dave had to pull double duty. And that alone was worrying to Junior, as Rick wasn't someone who would miss his shift, not without calling in sick two hours before his shift.

And then some guy entered his club, threatened him to make some fake ID's or have your eye shot out by some invisible gunner. And he proved his threat to be quite real when Eric got shot in the nose, the wound looking small enough to be caused by a nail.

Obviously, he immediately handed the man a pair of fake ID's that you would be hard-pressed to disprove to be fake.

And if that wasn't enough, Roman had come to his bar looking to rent some of his boys for a couple of heists he was planning for the to do in the next three weeks.

"People say you know everything," the blonde maniac started, pulling out a Scroll that definitely wasn't one that students who weren't born with a Golden Dust crystal up their rectum could purchase legally. "So tell me where I can find her, and I'll let you go." She showed him a picture of a black-haired woman who was similar to the one currently threatening his balls, wearing a prom dress.

"I've never seen her before, I swear!" Junior squeaked. Now, if Junior's mind wasn't blurred by a couple glasses of Mistral's fine beverage, and his attention shifted away from the possibility of becoming an eunuch, he might've remembered a certain tournament held by Signal Academy, and more specifically, one of the finalists.

"Excuse me?!" Yang squeezed harder, not believing that he didn't know, as his reputation spoke otherwise. From what she had heard, there was hardly any information that Junior's gang couldn't find, having ties to gangs all across Remnant.

"I swear it, _SIR_!" Junior couldn't be happier as his men approach, ready to defend their boss. While he may speak ill of their skills, he definitely appreciated their loyalty.

"Hmm, it looks like we have an audience." Yang teased after taking a look at the assembled thugs, noting the look on Edward's face, recognizing it as one that was excited for a fight.

"This must be kinda embarrassing for you huh? Awkward…" Yang grinned. The thugs didn't dare to move, as the blonde had their boss literally by the balls, and things could get messy if they acted rashly.

"Listen? Blondie, _sir_." Junior said, catching Yang's attention. "If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!" Junior, and his gang let out a sigh of relief as Yang withdrew her hand from Junior's privates. He definitely wasn't ready nor willing to.

"You'll pay for that." Junior said, walking away from the blonde maniac before she tried something more brazen.

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you, don't be so sensitive." Yang wasn't about to let this guy just walk away before she got her answers. And since it's pretty obvious that a few pretty words and a nice view wouldn't _bear_ -suade Junior, she'd have to get physical.

 _'Why do I feel like Gibbs-slapping Yang?'_ Edward wondered as he kept a small distance away from the swarm of thugs that surrounded Yang and Junior.

"Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?" Of course she wasn't going to let this guy kiss her, she'd just kick both his and his gang's collective asses.

That caught Junior off-guard. "No thanks, but I'm not into stu-" the rest of what Junior had to say was cut off by Yang punching him in the face, the surprise attack sending him flying through a glass pillar, and the resulting crash against the wall taking him out of the fight for now.

 **[Urgent quest: Bear beatdown has been created!]**  
 **Yang has gained the ire of the Bear gang by attacking their Boss. Help Yang defeat them.**

 **[Objectives]**  
 **\- Defeat "Hei Xiong Jr". 0/1**  
 **\- Defeat "Militia Melachite" and "Melanie Malachite". 0/2**  
 **\- Defeat the thugs. 0/40**

 **Rewards:**  
 **Success: 2000 EXP. Increased closeness with Yang Xiao Long.**  
 **Failure: Decreased closeness with Yang. Decreased popularity with the "Bear Gang" faction. Possibly Death**

"Well, so much for that." Edward sighed, but smiled at the amount of EXP he could potentially get from the upcoming fight, around 3000 EXP, unless his math was wrong. All he would need to do is survive.

So, as Yang leapt up, Edward equipped Verde Carnicero and lets the bullets fly, hitting quite the number of thugs, taking them out with the element of surprise. **[6/40]** before Yang hit the floor, causing a shockwave that sent more thugs flying. **[16/40]**

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV4!]**  
 **Current EXP: 0/400**

Seeing that ten of the thugs decided he'd make an easier target, Edward tried to find the button that would activate the mode shift on his weapon.

 _'Dammit, how the hell do these things work?'_ Edward quickly stepped back as one thug attempted to cut him with his sword, then retaliated by slamming the butt of his weapon into the thug's face, knocking him out. **[17/40]**

And as the knocked out thug fell to the ground with a groan, something in Edward's weapon clicked, causing the stock of the weapon to extend, allowing the handle to twist and slide in perfectly.

"Oh come on!" Edward complained as the rest of them reach him. He took a swing with both hands on the weapon, slowly getting used to the weapon's feel as 3-D's Grace handled any thug that got too close.

"Woo boy, this was not as easy as I thought." Edward looked at his weapon, the unconscious bodies of the thugs littering the ground around him. They had called for some reinforcement, but he had managed to beat all 14 thugs who had come for him. **[38/40]**

 **[Through a specific action, the Passive skill: Firearms Proficiency has been created.]**

 **Firearms Proficiency: You have become quite adept at using firearms to fight.  
Passive Skill Effect: {Increase the power of Gun-based skills by 10%. Reduce the Skill Cost of Gun-based skills by 10%}  
Passive Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

 **[Through a specific action, the Passive skill: Axe Proficiency has been created.]**

 **Axe Proficiency: You have become quite adept at using an Axe to fight.  
Passive Skill Effect: {Increase the power of Axe-based skills by 10%. Reduce the Skill Cost of Axe-based skills by 10%}  
Passive Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

Edward glanced over to where Yang is just finishing up, sending the last thug down to unconsciousness. **[39/40]**

"WATCH OUT!" Edward shouted to Yang as sees the DJ wearing a bear mask lift up his assault rifle, ready spray the floor with bullets.

 _ **"YAROOOO!"**_ 3-D's Grace manifested behind him, picking up a nearby mug of alcohol and throwing it at the masked DJ, causing the man to fall backwards and slam into the wall. The DJ let out a groan of pain as his body slumps down against the wall. **[40/40]**

"Um, thanks." Yang says as Edward walks over, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Although he knew that Yang probably wouldn't be hurt, it still didn't sit right with him to force her to keep dodging gunfire when he could take care of it so easily.

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV7]**  
 **Current EXP: 25/700**

"Ugh, so you two are huntsmen." Junior questioned as his Semblance works its magic, healing any bruises he got from being sent flying, save for his pride. "Geez, are the Beacon teachings saying that you need to punch the living daylight out of informants first?" he continued, observing the mess Edward and Yang made of his club, and his men.

If their skills were anything to go by, the blondie was probably from Beacon, being a hands-on type of person, while the brunette in green and black clothes was more than likely a Signal Academy freshman, if his skill with his weapon was any indication.

"Nope, she's from Signal, while I don't have any real training." Edward smiled as Junior's expression turned aghast, surprised that his men got so easily trashed by two people who weren't even from Beacon, although he did feel a bit of pride at Signal Academy churning out someone like the Blondie.

"But I'll be entering Beacon soon though!" Yang added.

"So, who are you two anyways?" Junior asked, noticing Militia and Melanie making their way up to higher ground, most likely planning to attack them from above, just like he taught them. The least he could do is play as the distraction while they set up for the sneak attack.

"Yang Xiao Long." Yang introduced herself confidently, while Edward wiped away the notification he got from gaining the "Sense Danger" skill, now aware of the twins attempting to creep up on them.

"Edward Smith, your amnesiac bad-ass for the evening." Edward introduced himself, resting Verde Carnicero against his shoulder, ready to swing when the twins made their move. Now that Junior was awake, maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to use 3-D's Grace, considering he wanted to keep it as a secret, at least from people who would freely blab about it, or saw the time controlling ability, since everything else, like the Stand moving and punching things could be explained away as telekinesis, so he'd just have to save this "Break" ability for times when there wouldn't be a loose-lipped witness he didn't trust walking away from the event.

"Well, since we've done our introductions, how about you two ladies introduce yourselves?" Edward's wicked grin spooked the twins as he looked up at where they were hiding. The twins look at one another, their looks asking the other how the hell did he notice them, having made sure not to make a loud noise while Junior distracted the duo.

"Oh so that's why you were getting so chatty!" Yang realized, pointing at Junior, who grimaced, re-considering his evaluation of Edward.

"Honestly, it wasn't a bad plan, against a single opponent, this plan would've worked out." Edward conceded, appreciating a good plan when credit is due.

 _'Hm, I wonder if I can reach them from here…'_ Edward wondered. He summoned his Stand, who jumped at the twins, landing a solid punch at the weak points of the rig they were standing on, causing them to fall flat on their face as gravity took hold of them and the broken rig. **[-5 Aura]**

"Well, don't you two look pathetic?" The twins reacted as quickly as they could, Militia lunging at Edward with her claws, while Melanie took on Yang, which suited Edward quite well, feeling more comfortable taking on the one who would have to get in close to deal any real damage, swinging his axe to meet her claws, the two weapons creating sparks as they clashed.

As Militia overextended her right jab, Edward elbowed her in the face **[-18 Aura]**. Something which she quickly paid back, by kicking him in the ribs with her right leg **[-20 Aura]**. But that proved to be a bad idea, as Edward's Stand grabbed her leg, trapping her in place. "Well, that wasn't very smart now was it?" Edward questioned, pointing Verde Carnicero at her face.

"Don't get carried away, boy." Edward momentarily flinched as Junior swung his bat, which 3-D's Grace quickly caught, stopping the grown man's attack dead in its tracks. Junior attempted to pull his weapon free, but the weapon's exterior bent inwards a few inches as 3-D's Grace gripped the weapon like a vice, applying the same kind of pressure onto Melanie's leg.

She then took advantage of the situation by swinging her claws at his face, causing Edward to lean back, the claws passing by mere inches away from his face.

"Okay, none of that." Edward deadpanned, pulling the trigger, the point-blank shot knocking Melanie flat on her ass, the protection of her Aura failing to stack up against the close-range shot. Junior then made the tactical choice of letting go of his weapon and tackled Edward, catching him in a bear-hug, using his strength to render him unable to move.

"I don't know what your Semblance is but from what I've seen, you can only hold two things at most." Junior stated as Edward tried kicking him. No way in hell he was going to lose and die to these clowns, mere gangsters, not when he had bigger fishes to fry.

3-D's Grace manifested behind Junior, grabbing the man in a chokehold, and to the man's credit, he didn't automatically let go of Edward to try and pry the hands choking him, instead re-doubling his grip, actually damaging his Aura. **[-19 Aura]**

"Let go, or I'll crush your neck like a bad egg!" Edward shouted, not noticing that Milita had gotten back up, and was running straight towards him. He did however notice when struck him with her claws in a rapid succession, eventually breaking through his Aura, the tip of her claws digging into his flesh causing him to grunt in pain, the following elbow strike causing his Stand to fade, as Junior dropped him onto the floor. **[Aura broken. -15 HP]**

"Thanks for that, I was already starting to black out." Junior nodded to Militia, who nodded back, handing him his bazooka before running off to help her sister. "You almost got me kid. You should still have some Aura left, so you'll live." Junior remarked to Edward, who was laying on the ground, glaring at Junior, small amount of blood trickling down his chin.

"Look, it's nothing personal, but you should've just stayed out of this kid, no chick is worth fighting a gang with her." The man said, rushing off to help the twins. They weren't going to kill either one of them, just knock them out, and let the cops deal with them. It wouldn't be good for either one of his businesses if two huntsmen students got killed in his club.

Hell, if the boy's story of having Amnesia was true, then that'd just be some extra incentive for his offer to get the boy working for him. Oum knows a telekinesis Semblance would be helpful when dealing with rowdy patrons who had taken more beer than they could handle.

 _'NO, DAMMIT FUCK!'_ Edward growled as Junior dashed towards Yang. Sure, she would be fine, but dammit, his pride wouldn't stand for this humiliating defeat. _'3-D's Grace, heal me dammit!'_ His Stand should be able to heal him, if only by turning time forward for his body. Oh sure, he didn't actually have any wounds due to Gamer's body, but there was no way in hell he was getting near that fight, not with the protection from his Aura gone.

As his Stand appeared over him, it kneeled down to him, laying its hand on his back, as the clock on the back of its hand spun backwards. **[+177 Aura. +5 HP]**

 **[New Stand skill; "Life starts now" has been unlocked!]**  
 **\- Life starts now: When the user is wounded, 3-D's Grace can reverse time on the user's body, healing their body. The current limit of this ability is 3 Minutes. However, once this ability is used, the user will have to wait use this ability again. The current cooldown is 3 weeks.**  
 **Effect: Complete HP, MP and Aura recovery, instantly removes any status ailments inflicted within the 3-minute timeframe.**  
 **Cost: 40 MP**

 _'Okay, so do you have any other tricks you'd like to share?'_ Edward asked his Stand, who merely glared at him, or that was the impression Edward got, as the Stand's eyes were covered by two range lenses. The time for playing around was over, so fuck it, he'd uses his Stand, and if need be, either scare Junior's gang into silence, or erase them.

With a calm mind, he ran towards the fight, shooting at Junior who was in the middle of shifting his weapon into its bazooka form, leaving his 3 o'clock open for the attacks, causing him to turn his attention to Edward.

 _'What the actual hell?'_ Junior wondered as he looked at Edward, noticing the distinct lack of blood on the youth's person, when he should be bleeding on the floor right now, not...rising into air and suddenly flying at him?

 _'Wait, WHAT!'_ Junior quickly reacted, swinging his bat at the flying teen, only for the teen to simply disappear, and before Junior could question the situation, his head rocked back, as if it were kicked by a mule, **[-55 Aura]** before he was sent flying forward, feeling the impact of numerous punches connecting with his back. **[Aura Broken. -140 HP]**

"Well, that was cathartic as fuck." Edward noted, occupying the spot behind Junior's previous location as Junior crash-landed against a pillar **[-30 HP]**. Too bad he didn't have enough MP to do that two more times.

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV9]**  
 **Current EXP: 725/900**

Feeling greedy for more EXP, Edward shifted to axe mode, rushing in to attack Militia, seeing that her Aura was almost broken. "Miss me?" He asked, smiling at her shocked face as she cartwheeled away to dodge his surprise attack. Edward then took a few shots at her, surprisingly managing to nick her in the knee as she attempted to dodge.

"Well, it's been fun," Edward began, walking over to her, 3-D's Grace floating next to him, in case she tried any desperate attacks.

"But it's time for the closing credits." His Stand swung its fist at Militia, who made one last desperate attempt, slashing her claw at the faint figure she saw coming at her. But, she got dropped like a sack of potatoes then 3-D's Grace's fist met her head, the maroon pulse around her body serving as a visual showing of her broken Aura protection. **[Aura Broken. -81 HP. K-O.]**

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV10]**  
 **Current EXP: 775/1000**

"Oi Yang, need any help on your end, or you wanna keep dancing with tighty whitey all by yourself?" Edward's question was met with a glare from Melanie, and a boisterous roar of laughter from Yang as she kept dodging Melanie's kicks while retaliating with her punches.

"Nah, you can take a break, I'm having… Too! Much! Fun!" Yang laughed, each exclamation punctuated with a shotgun blast from Ember Celica. To be honest, despite having some trouble with people who fought with their feet, Yang was having a lot of fun, getting to fight a whole gang of people, so all in all, she'd call it an okay night, but if she found some info about her mom, then it'd be a great night.

"Well, might as well take a seat." Edward lifted up one of the chairs that were knocked down, and sat on it, deigning to at least try and unlock Meditation as a skill while Yang had her fun. But to be honest, he had no real idea on how he'd go about creating the skill, not being the most static person back on Earth, usually tapping his finger in a rhythm or something.

But regardless, he closed his eyes, and did his best not to move, trusting his Stand to react if someone tried something stupid. And so, he meditated, focusing on the ticking of his pocketwatch. And soon enough, as the ticking went on and on, he got the notification for unlocking Meditation, and for completing the quest.

So, he opened his eyes to see how badly Yang wrecked the club. And when he opened his eyes, it was Yang's face staring at him uncomfortably close. "WHOA! Fuck!" he cursed as he lost his balance, causing the chair to fall backwards.

"Hey now, it isn't fall season yet." Yang snickered a bit, as Edward picked himself up from the floor.

"Yeah, but I guess it was a drowsy season for me?" Edward retorted attempting to do a pun of his own. "Huh, that bad?" The quality however, was less than stellar, as Yang did a so-so motion with her hand. "Well, I'm not a comedian. Anyway, we should go and see if Junior's awake." Edward motioned to the pillar that Junior was leaning against, starting to regain consciousness as his bruises healed slowly.

"Dammit…" Seeing the duo approach him, he threw his hands above his head, surrendering. "Ok ok, I get it, I give." He knew when it was foldin' time, and this was definitely it. "But damn Xiao Long, Smith, you two are something else." Junior said, meant as a compliment toward the latter.

He had noticed Edward following the events before the brawl, but Junior had assumed that he was just some patron who was too curious, but then the kid pulled out a shift weapon out of nowhere. Sure, he didn't seem to have much skill in using it for melee, but the kid did adapt to using it at a scary pace.

"Thanks, you weren't shabby either." Yang grinned, taking Junior's comment as a compliment.

"I don't think that was meant as a compliment Yang." Edward sighed at the blonde's behavior. It was honestly sad how she went from this upbeat girl into a bitter cripple. Well, unless he managed to fix things.

"Uh, anyway, you two had questions, right?" Junior asked picking himself up from the floor as the twins groaned in discomfort, starting to regain consciousness.

* * *

 **[A few band-aids later...]**

"Sorry, don't recognize her." Junior answered, looking at the picture of Raven in her dress. While Junior was definitely less intoxicated than before, a head trauma or two definitely didn't make recognizing old schoolmates any easier.

"So all you know is gossip, huh." Yang sighed, depressed that she found yet another dead end in the process of finding her mom.

"Gossip nothing." Junior scoffed at the insult. "Even an information station like ours doesn't know everything." He admitted.

"At the very least, I'm sure that this person has never visited my club." Junior definitely would've remembered a chick that beautiful visiting his club.

"So uh, what about you, you got amnesia, right? Want me to try and look for your past?" Junior asked Edward, who pretended to think about the question presented to him. Of course he didn't want Junior try to find anything about him, since the complete lack of information would set off far too many alarm bells.

"No need for that, just some fake IDs that can get me a job or enroll at a huntsman academy." Edward answered, not too surprised by the confused looks that he got.

"Wait what?! Why wouldn't you want to find out your past?" If Yang would've been in the situation as her new friend, she definitely would have at least asked Junior to try and find out, not completely reject the offer.

"Look Xiao Long, sometimes the past is best left buried." Junior interjected. If the guy really did have an amnesia, the lack of wounds indicated that the amnesia was a coping mechanism of his mind to something so tragic that his mind decided to check out before the lateral shit-storm hit.

Of course, that would be the case, if he really did have amnesia, but he was a bit too... _certain_ of some things to be an amnesiac. Now, that all could be racked up to arrogance, but even the way he moved and acted signaled Junior that this "amnesiac" knew a bit more than he let on.

But, it wasn't really his business to question why he wanted to pretend to have no memories, as long as he was willing to pay for fake IDs. He'd just put a search out for his personal records to sate his own curiosity.

"Regardless, making fake IDs will take some time, so I'll just call you on your Scroll to pick them up when they're ready." But, if the amnesia story was true, then probably the first thing he did was take a look at the contact info on his Scroll , and since he was here, the Scroll was probably empty.

Edward nodded, sticking his hand into the pocket of his hoodie, opened his **[Inventory]** there, and opened up his Scroll. There was no way in hell he was going to reveal his Gamer to someone who made a living from selling information to anyone with enough Lien to throw around.

Junior briefly furrowed his brow at the sight of the customized Scroll, dark grey with sage highlights, but ignored it as the two Scrolls registered one another.

"Anyway, if you don't have enough Lien to pay for the IDs, I could use someone of your skill." Junior suggested. The kid was stronger than any of his boys, so he'd be a huge help in keeping peace in the club. He wasn't going to get the kid involved in any of his shadier jobs, so he'd be working only at the club.

"And you could crash in one of the spare rooms." Junior added, attempting to sweeten the deal.

"Woah, hold up, he can crash at my place." Yang interjected. She wasn't about to leave someone with amnesia in the care of a local gang boss, especially someone who made deals with Roman Torchwick.

Besides, it wasn't like her dad would throw him out, as long as Edward didn't try any funny business with either her or Ruby. But he didn't look like the kind of guy who would try anything like that.

"Well, I wouldn't want to impose on you guys..." Despite what he said, Edward was more than happy about Yang's offer. Hell, he was fucking ecstatic , as that would make getting Ozpin's attention all the more easier, whether through Taiyang, Qrow or simply by helping Ruby stop Roman's little heist.

"Nah, Dad won't mind, as long as you won't try any funny business." Yang warned him. Seriously, her dad took the safety of her and Ruby like it was a matter of life and death, not that she minded, it was pretty sweet.

"A protective dad eh?" Edward asked, following Yang up the stairs. Not that he could blame their dad for being so overprotective. Losing both of his wives, one dead/possibly taken over by some evil entity(if some theories were to be believed), and the other one gone couldn't have had any positive effects on the man's psyche.

"Yeah, kinda." Yang shrugged, pulling out her Scroll, before dialing a certain number. Now that she was bringing an extra, shed have to call Ruby and tell her that she might be late in picking her up.

"Hey sis! Where are you?" Yang greeted as the call connected. She just hoped that Ruby wasn't at the other end of Vale.

 **#Hi Yang, I'm at Awe Arms, why?#**

"I'm about to head back to Patch, and I'm bringing a friend along," Yang explained, smiling at the info. Awe Arms was near the docks, so Ruby shouldn't have any problem making it to the ferries in time.

 **#Uh-huh#**

"but there isn't enough room on Bumblebee for both of you." she continued, her tone shifting to a apologetic one. She didn't want Ruby to feel like she was ditching her.

 **#Ah that's okay, I can make it to the ferry on my own.#**

"Great, see you there!" Yang beamed, ending the call.

"Had to call your sister eh?" Edward asked as Yang handed him a spare helmet from Bumblebee's storage. He put the helmet into his inventory before dragging the helmet icon onto his character, causing the helmet to appear onto his head, re-sized to fit his head.

"Yeah, she'll be meeting us at the ferry. Now hold on tight." Edward nodded, awkwardly wrapping his hands around Yang's waist, holding on tightly as Yang gunned the engine of her bike, causing Edward to hold on tighter, unless he wanted to fall off.

* * *

 **AN: And that's all, I hope you liked the chapter, don't forget to review, tell me how you liked the story. Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write, and I did a neat little re-design of my original RWBY weapon, so yay. By the way, do you guys think that I portrayed Yang correctly? I'm not really good with puns that aren't dirty.**

 **Alright, onto some stat explanations. HP is Level of the character times 10, plus half of VIT( 2 points in VIT=1 HP). Aura is simply put, the 6 main stats + level times 10, as the explanation of aura is, and I quote:** "Aura is the manifestation of one's soul in the RWBY universe, and can be used for a wide range of abilities. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual to individual and are dependent on a number of factors, such as **_EXPERIENCE_** , **_TRAINING_** , and innate skill" **Now, I wasn't sure how to factor in the "innate skill part", so I left that out. And I was honestly having some trouble with deciding how to make Aura function as a Game Element, but since the show seems to treat is as a sort of a health bar, it counts as a secondary HP bar, that can also be used to fuel skills.**

 **Also, before anyone starts complaining about "Edward's too OP" well, you are correct, but that's only because of his Stand, which even those who have unlocked their aura can only see as a faint outline, which could be mistaken for the air rippling from heat, or as a trick of the mind.**

 **However, I do have an excuse for why Edward already has a RWBY weapon, and the Stand-Granting arrow in his inventory, I just can't tell you guys right now, since that would be spoiling the story, big time. And yes, I do have this story planned out, for the 3 volumes at the very least, and the timeskip between the end season 2 of the start of 3.**

 **But that is not to say that I won't accept any suggestions.**

 **Stand Files**

 **Stand Entry_01: 3-D's Grace {Inspiration: 3 Days Grace}**  
 **User: Edward Smith**

 **Destructive Power: B**  
 **Speed: B**  
 **Range: C**  
 **Durability: C**  
 **Precision: A**  
 **Potential: C**

 **Abilities and Powers:**

 **\- Break:** When the Stand's hand makes contact with something for more than 3 seconds, 3-D's Grace can start causing that something to start breaking apart, the speed of breaking down increasing with continued contact. If the target is touched only for 3 seconds, they will be branded with a mark that's visible only to people capable of seeing Stands, and will have 3 days to live until they rapidly age and turn to dust, unless the Stand user has the Stand stop its ability. This effect can also be stopped by cutting off the branded part of the target within the time limit. The user does not know when whether or not the "Break Mark" killed someone, but the Stand does.

 **\- Superhuman Strength:** 3-D's Grace is strong enough to break steel beams with a single punch. However, 3-D's Grace's strength may seem superhuman to normal people, to Huntsmen and Huntresses, the Stand's Strength might as well be C.

 **\- Superhuman Speed:** 3-D's Grace is fast enough to catch a bullet shot 3 meters away, and punch a multitude of bullets shot in rapid succession.

 **\- Limited Sentience:** 3-D's Grace is shown to have at least a limited amount of sentience, protecting its user without their say-so. 3-D's Grace is also capable and willing to hide information about itself from its user, if it means ensuring the user's safety.

 **\- Life starts now:** When the user is wounded, 3-D's Grace can reverse time on the user's body, healing their body. The current limit of this ability is 3 Minutes. However, once this ability is used, the user will have to wait use this ability again. The current cooldown is 3 weeks.

 **\- World so Cold:** Those targeted by this ability, maximum of living 2 targets, will freeze in time, as long as they are at most 3 Meters away from 3-D's Grace when this ability is activated. The "frozen" people can be moved by other people, but any attacks that would be inflicted upon them will take effect only after time resumes for the target. After time resumes for the target, they will be immune to this ability for the equal amount of time that they were frozen, the upper limit of this ability being 3 days.

 **Well, that was fun, wasn't it? So yeah, 3-D's Grace is pretty similar to your usual Joestar Stand, aside from Jonathan, Joseph, Holly and Jolyne, high Destructive power and Speed, and a time-based ability. But don't mistake the Destructive power as pure physical power, because if it was, then it would be C, 'cause 3-D's Grace is not what you'd call a big bruiser. No, the B comes from Break, since while you can run away and block physical attacks, but you can't block or run away from Time itself.**

 **Also, yes, I know that Time-Manipulation is a standard ability to the Stands of major JoJo villains, but both Jotaro and Josuke have Stands with time-related abilities, and unlike the other ones, 3-D's Grace can't target a lot of people with its abilities, making it a more of a duelist Stand, meant for fighting against a single opponent, or 2 opponents at the same time.**

 **And here's some more stats, but this time, it's about Semblances! Yes, even Semblances will have a Stat spread.**

 **Semblance Files**

 **Semblance Entry_01: The Gamer**  
 **User: Edward Smith**

 **Destructive Power: Varies**  
 **Speed: S**  
 **Range: S**  
 **Precision: S**  
 **Developmental Potential: S**

 **Abilities:**

 **-Life is a game:** The Gamer allows the user to live their life like a video game, a Role-Playing Game to be specific, complete with stats, skills and EXP. Objects that the Gamer encounters will have a brief description of them, but the description isn't perfect, if the Gamer himself doesn't know something about the item in question, the description will either have a mere hint about the unknown information or no mention or hint of the unknown information at all.

 **Semblance Entry_02: Kinetic Feedback**  
 **User: Yang Xiao Long**

 **Destructive Power: C-S**  
 **Speed: E-S**  
 **Range: E**  
 **Durability: B**  
 **Precision: C**  
 **Potential: C**

 **Abilities:**

 **-Karma's a bitch, and so am I:** Kinetic Feedback allows the user to increase their own power by the amount of damage the user has taken. However, this shouldn't be understood as the user becoming more durable, as Kinetic feedback merely ups the user's attack power as more damage is taken. And all that power won't mean anything if the user is unable to hit their opponent.

 **Semblance Entry_03: Quick Fix**  
 **User: Hei Xiong Junior**

 **Destructive Power: E**  
 **Speed: D**  
 **Range: E**  
 **Durability: B**  
 **Precision: C**  
 **Potential: E**

 **Abilities:**

 **-First Aid:** Quick Fix is able to heal minor injuries, and pump a small amount of adrenalin back into the user's body, allowing them to quickly rejoin the fight if need be.

 **So, how'd you like it? I was having some trouble deciding whether or not the Semblances would have the same kind of stats that Stands do, so I'm going to explain these Semblance Stats, right here, right now!**

 **Destructive Power:** Clean and simple, how much destructive power the Semblance in question has that it can use during a fight.

 **Speed:** Now, this can either be how fast the Semblance makes the user, or how quickly it takes effect. A Semblance like Ruby's Speed scores and A, since her Semblance does make her very fast, but not Flash-levels of fast.

 **Range:** Simple really, how far does the Semblance reach. Now, considering that most Semblance only work on the user's own body, or their immediate surrounding, most will score E-C rankings.

 **Durability:** Either how durable the Semblance makes the user, or how durable the creations of the Semblance are.

 **Precision:** I don't think this one requires all that much explanation. How precise the Semblance, or its effect is on average, or how accurate it makes the user while the Semblance is in effect. For example, Ruby's Speed, while active would score D, due to tunnel vision, while Pyrrha's or Emerald's would score about B.

 **Potential:** This one is pretty simple, it's just how much potential the Semblance in question has, in what different ways it can be used. Now, Semblances like the Schnee family's glyphs would definitely score an A or S ranking, since with the right Glyphs, they can essentially copy other Semblances.

 **And yes I do think that Junior does have Huntsman training and a Semblance, since the man managed to survive a punch from a pissed off and charged-up Yang. Plus, I doubt that a club owner has anything resembling a warrant for a transforming weapon.**

 **Also, as to why I started this story at the "Yellow" trailer instead of any others, well Y not?**

 **Oh and here is Edward's current Stat screen:**

 **Edward Smith LV: 10**  
 **EXP: 775/1000**  
 **Stand: 3-D's Grace**

 **HP: 120**  
 **MP: 95/100**  
 **Aura: 207**

 **STR: 11**  
 **INT: 27**  
 **VIT: 10**  
 **WIS: 28**  
 **DEX: 12**  
 **AGI: 10**

 **Points: 27**  
 **Lien: 26100**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:**  
 **Aura Unlocked: Your Aura has been unlocked, thus giving you limited protection from bullets.{Damage lower than your current Aura is deducted from your Aura, until it hits 0, then you will take damage normally.}**

 **Anyway, tomorrow's my Birthday, so please, leave me lots of reviews, favorites and follows are optional, and who knows, maybe answer the little question I have at the bottom.**

 **Question of the chapter:** So, I've started watching Diamond is Unbreakable, started playing The 7th Stand User, and I was wondering; What would you guys think of me replacing the Quincy part of the DxD fic I was somewhat planning being replaced by the S-I getting a Stand?

And yes, I have already designed the Stand **(And no, it isn't 3-D's Grace)** , with quite the amount of help from **shadeblade10** , _(Loving his JoJo/RWBY crossover fanfic, and I recommend it.)_ and no, I'm not going to tell what it is, since that'd just spoil the surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys, I'm back~! I really hope that you guys give me the same kind of positive feedback that the previous one did. And by all means, do think of this as an early Christmas present from me to all of you. And all that I ask in return, is that you guys and gals drop a review, and vote on the Poll on my profile, to decide which story idea will fill up the spot that Enduring Soul previously occupied.**

 **Anyway, onto the story!**

"Regular speech"

"This is a 'skill' understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **#Speaking through a Scroll#**

 **[Game Data]**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"So, why did Junior and one of the twins look so surprised when you got a drop on them?" Yang asked as she swerved between the moving vehicles.

"Well, you remember when I said that 3-D-G could age things forward?" Edward asked in return. He had faith in Yang's ability to keep stuff like this a secret.

"Ya-huh." Yang nodded. It honestly sounded like a pretty scary ability, young and virile one minute, and then poof, you're nothing but bones and ashes. A pretty Grimm way to go.

"Well, it turns out that it's a bit more like time manipulation. In that particular case, rewinding time for my body by 3 minutes, thus erasing the damage I took during that timeframe. And I'd say that the ability only targets my body's physical state, as my memories remained untouched." Edward explained, oddly feeling like a bad joke was made.

"Come again?" Yang was a fighter and a lover, not a thinker, so the technical explanation flew over her head.

"Well, think of it like jumping to a previous save file after screwing something up, like not getting a specific item from a randomized selection."

"Oh, neat!" Yang nodded, understanding Edward's simplified explanation. An ability like that probably had some sort of a cooldown, since otherwise that would have been pretty unfair, and considering how Edward's Semblance was one that made the world around him work like a game, Yang felt confident in thinking that an ability like that would have something that stopped him from just no-selling all damage.

"Yeah, but it's not unbeatable. And keep your eyes on the road, please." Edward wasn't going to fall to the basic JoJo bad guy cliché of believing that his Stand was unbeatable, because 3-D's Grace was not unbeatable. Oh sure, it had a scary as hell ability, but just like any other powerful Stand, his had a limitation to its powers.

It definitely was not meant for drawn-out fights, the MP cost for the abilities beyond Break being way too costly and restricted to be of any use. "Life starts Now" could only rewind time by 3 minutes, with an absurdly long cooldown, and a hefty MP cost of 40. And "World so Cold" wasn't all that better, costing 30 MP per use, and only capable of targeting 2 people at a time. Definitely not meant to fight against a group of strong people.

Not to mention that it wasn't all that strong in the physical department. The only reason it managed to break those steel beams was because it aged it forward enough to rust them. So he definitely wouldn't be winning any arm wrestling competitions with it. And there might also be other limitations and weaknesses he had yet to discover.

"Oh don't be such a worry-wart, we're almost to the docks anyway." And true enough, after 10 minutes, they had reached the docks. Edward looked around, and spotted a rather average-sized vessel, with a dull grey paintjob with green highlights. He could see a few nicks here and there, probably from Grimm attacks or pirates, if they existed on Remnant, that is.

" **[Observation]** " Edward whispered to himself as he dismounted from Yang's bike. While he might not have seen Volume 4, he had seen the World of Remnant Videos, especially the part about _"crazy fish stories"_ which translated to him as _"big as fuck aquatic Grimm"_ and he certainly didn't want to become some freaky Squid-Grimm's chew toy because he sailed on some rusty piece of scrap.

 **[Observation]**

 **Ferry Model: LPR45-131  
A ferry that is used by the people who want to travel between Vale and Patch. Armed to take out any Grimm that might dwell in the shallow waters between the two, this ship model has proven itself time and time again by sailing from the island and back safely.  
Armament: Dust-Bomb Cannon (6), Anti-Air Dust Cannon (1).  
Durability: 25600/26000  
Passengers: 25/40**

 _'LPR45—Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me.'_ Edward seriously hoped that the ship lived up to its namesake's fame. At least it didn't have a giant shell covering its poop deck.

"So, uh Yang, when is your little sis going to arrive?" Edward asked, un-equipping the spare helmet from his head, causing the helmet to shrink back down to its original size as he handed it back to Yang. He'd use whatever time he had to start formulating a game plan, since his current one was more like a list of objectives he had to accomplish, the main one being exterminating Cinder, Emerald and Adam. And no, that wasn't merely out of personal… _dislike_ for the three individuals, no, it was out of necessity, the fact that he'd get to see them pay for the shit they were responsible for was merely the icing on the cake.

Killing Cinder would be important because that would send the Fall Maiden's power back into whatever odd circulation they followed. Emerald's illusion Semblance was a very dangerous ability that he couldn't afford for the enemy to have. As for Adam... well his Semblance being able to either completely wreck or bypass any defense that Aura gave, and neither one of the two concepts was something that Edward felt comfortable being in the hands of a madman out to cause human genocide, so he was definitely on his _"clean-up"_ list.

"She should be here in about ten minutes, give or take," Yang answered, storing the offered helmet with in Bumblebee's compartment.

Edward nodded, as he started to plan how he should go about this monstrous task ahead of him. He could try enrolling at Beacon, and while that course of action carried numerous benefits, it also carried a big chance of him somehow fucking up the timeline, like him replacing one of the key members of either team RWBY or team JNPR. And while that might seem like a relatively harmless change, it could cause certain key events not to happen, like team RWBY catching wind of the big scheme that was being plotted behind the curtains, or even worse, Roman not causing the breach when he did.

If the throwaway line from Emerald was any indication, the breach was planned to happen when Beacon students were away on missions, thus causing more deaths, more panic and distrust towards the huntsmen, which would make it all the more devastating when the events of V3's finale would happen.

Speaking of which, he should probably do something to stop that, mainly Cinder's Virus, so that the last footage that the rest of the world sees isn't Atlesian Knights and Paladins firing on Vale Citizen's. Too bad he didn't know where Cinder got that, since neither her, or her little crew seemed to be competent enough in programming to make that kind of virus, which probably meant that Salem has some kind of a tech guy working for her.

So then, he'd have to start learning programming and hacking before the events of V2 rolled around.

 _'Actually what Skills do I have?'_ Edward wondered to himself as he leaned against a shipping crate. He knew that he had Observation, Axe and Gun Proficiency, Sense Danger and Meditation. Although he couldn't help but wonder if any he had any skills from before coming to Remnant, or did he just have the basic Gamer stuff.

"Hey Ed, mind coming over here?" Edward turned his head towards where Yang called, seeing that Ruby had finally arrived, who was looking at him somewhat nervously, not that he could blame her, he'd certainly be suspicious of a strange guy his sister was bringing to their home.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Reaperette\  
Ruby Rose LV: 18  
EXP: 1200/1800  
Semblance: Speed  
Stand Potential: A**

 **HP: 199  
MP: 100  
Aura: 362**

 **STR: 19  
INT: 20  
VIT: 18  
WIS: 34  
DEX: 27  
AGI: 62**

 **Current Mood: Curious, Excited, Nervous**

 **A second-year student at Patch's Signal Academy, Ruby Rose is among the top students of her year, blitzing around the battlefield with the combination of her Speed Semblance and sweet baby, Crescent Rose, a high-caliber sniper rifle/scythe combination which is sure to put down hordes of Grimm. However, despite her amazing skill on the battlefield, Ruby isn't what you'd call a social person, rather nervous of meeting new people, and somewhat of a klutz.**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:** **  
Silver Eyes{Locked}: The traits of legendary warriors who could kill Grimm with a single glance.{Damage dealt to Grimm +50%, Damage dealt by Grimm -50%. Damage dealt to Maidens +25%.}  
Weapons lover: Seeing new weapons is like meeting new people, only better. {+50% EXP gained to weapon proficiencies and weapon-related Skills.}  
Cookie Engine: {Cookies heal HP and MP by 20%, Chocolate Chip Cookies heal 50% and Strawberry Cookies heal by 100% and remove all status effects.}  
Aura Unlocked: Your Aura has been unlocked, thus giving you limited protection from attacks.{Damage lower than your current Aura is deducted from your Aura, until it hits 0, then you will take damage normally.}**

 **EXP Yield: 3600  
Item Drops: Crescent Rose, 50mm Dust Round Cartridges x210, 2 Silver Eyes{Accessory]**

 _'Oi, oi, what the actual fuck.'_ Edward thought to himself as he read RWBY's stat sheet, while walking over to the two. Oh, he knew that the Silver Eyes would hurt Grimm like a bitch, but he didn't know that they also fucked up the Maidens. Although, now that he thought about it, how else would Ruby have beaten Cinder, who even before stealing the other 3 quarters of Amber's Maiden powers was someone who could block shots from Glynda, and scare Adam (who seemed to have a boner for human genocide), into obeying like a scared dog.

But, he could definitely roll with this. He'd just need to train Ruby to Cinder's Level, or near that. Although, he couldn't help but wonder why his Observation gave him much more info about Ruby than it did about Yang or the Bear Gang boss trio? Perhaps it had something to do with the level difference, or the fact that all of them were confrontational on a certain level?

"Ruby, meet Edward. Edward, meet my little sister Ruby." Yang said, introducing the two to each other.

"Nice to meet you Ruby." Edward said, deciding to start things off rather casually as he offered his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too Edward." Ruby smiled, shaking the offered hand. He seemed like a nice guy, although Ruby did feel like he was reading her like an open weapons manual. _'Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of weapon he has?'_ Ruby wondered to herself. She didn't see him carrying anything, but he didn't look like a martial artist. Maybe his weapon's compact form was so small that he could just pocket it?

"So, uh, where are you from?" Ruby asked in an attempt at small talk.

Yang drew in a sharp breath. "Rubes, Edward… he has amnesia." She probably should have mentioned that

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "Isn't that what old people get?"

"No, that's Dementia. I've got Amnesia, and I can't remember anything regarding my personal life and history, only stuff that's necessary to survive." Edward explained, tapping the side of his head.

"That's horrible!" Ruby couldn't help but feel sorry for Edward. What about his parents, or friends? She couldn't help but wonder how worried they must be.

"Hey, it's not all bad, he certainly got a pretty useful Semblance." Yang said, in an attempt to see the positive side of things. Sure, not remembering anything but your name about your personal history wasn't anything to celebrate at, but he could become a great huntsman, and who knows, maybe doing that would get the attention of his family.

"Huh?" Ruby once again tilted her head in confusion. She really couldn't see a Semblance that could make up for losing the memories you had of your family, friends and all the good times you had with them.

"Ah, come one Yang, we shouldn't talk about it here." Edward said in an attempt to steer the conversation to a different direction. Oh sure, he intended to tell Ruby about his Semblance, but not in a public area like this, where people could easily eavesdrop on the conversation, or see him pulling stuff out of thin air.

Thankfully, a saving grace came in the form of the ferry's foghorn blaring. **#Attention! The ship will depart in 10 minutes, so get yer keesters on, or be left behind!#** A gruff voice spoke through the ferry's speaker.

"Oh right, the boat." Yang's bike quickly disappeared in a flash of pixels as she stored it into the shared **[Inventory]** , and then grabbed both Edward and Ruby by the hand, leading them towards the ferry.

Looking at Ruby, Edward sighed. He really should have seen this coming. "Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, my Semblance grants me abilities similar to video game characters, RPG ones specifically." He explained, really hoping that his Stand would stay a secret for now at least. He'd rather not risk Ruby blabbing about her new friend having a ghostly buddy, especially to certain _"visiting students"_.

Ruby's eyes widened as she took the info in. "THAT'S SO COOL!" So that's why she couldn't see a weapon on him, it was in his Inventory. But now that she knew that, she couldn't help but wonder what it was, since with a Semblance like that, it didn't have any size limitations. Ooh, maybe Edward's weapon was a giant chainsaw that could switch into a minigun, or maybe it was a giant railgun! Ooh, or maybe it was a bunch of drones that could fly around and shoot.

"But wait, if that's your Semblance, how did Yan-Oh my god, you have a Party mechanic." Ruby's eyes were shining with childlike innocence and enthusiasm, as if Christmas, or whatever the Remnant equivalent of it was, had come early, and her dad had given her the permission to open her present.

"Got it in one." Edward smiled as they came aboard the ship. It was honestly refreshing that he didn't need to explain it all, and if he was being honest, the innocent look on Ruby's face was pretty damn cute. Not that he would try romancing her, nor matter what kind of reward The Gamer would give him for succeeding.

"So, what kind of weapon do you have?" Ruby asked as she slightly calmed, but still excited to see what kind of weapon Edward had. And hey, if he didn't have weapon, she could help him make one.

"Aah, don't think it's a good idea for me to take it out right now. Don't want any trouble with security." Edward said, scratching the back of his head as he eyed the patrolling men in striped shirts and sailor hats that were making rounds around the ship, making sure that nobody was bringing any contraband items onto the ferry.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good point…" Ruby huffed, puffing her cheeks as she pouted. She had really wanted to see what kind of weapon Edward had. It simply had to be something super cool, something that would work well with his Semblance. Like a suit of power armor or something, like the Dust Man armor from the comics.

"Wow, I haven't seen Ruby this excited since Uncle Qrow promised to start teaching her how to use a scythe." Yang chuckled. She knew that the two would hit it off. Ruby could use some more friends, and Edward didn't have any friends, that he could remember that is, so why not kill two Nevermores with one stone?

"Yang, Ruby, there's something that I'd like to ask for the two of you to do." Edward announced, his tone shifting to a tad more serious one.

"Sure, Ed, what is it?" Yang was rather caught off-guard by Edward's demeanor. So far, he had been pretty chill, but now, he looked rather grim.

"I'll have to ask you not to tell anyone about my Semblance." He didn't want to risk either of them blabbing about it, and then him ending up chained somewhere, either by Atlesian military, or Salem's forces, and being reduced to nothing more than a handy power-up that would be spread around like the common cold.

Edward's request caught Ruby by surprise. "Huh, why not?" If it could give other people an Inventory and any other benefits, then wouldn't it be for the good of everyone if Huntsmen and Huntresses were told of his Semblance?

"Well… let's say that I do start sharing my ability. Eventually, some… _less than noble_ groups, like the White Fang for example, would find about my ability and then send people to either kill me, or kidnap me." Edward explained, deciding to censor it so that Ruby would understand it. She didn't understand that the world had bad people in all kinds of positions, even among the military who were supposed to protect people, and he honestly doubted that she ever would.

"And before you say anything Ruby, would _you_ feel comfortable with the idea of countless people getting harmed and injured, possibly crippled for life or worse, all just to keep one person with a useful Semblance alive?" Edward asked, shooting down any naïve retort Ruby might have had. He certainly wouldn't feel all that good about tons of people sacrificing themselves to keep him safe. And even if he did get caught by the White Fang, or by Cinder's group, they wouldn't kill him, not if they wanted their hands on the benefits he could grant them.

Although, he wasn't so sure about the chances of his survival if it was Cinder calling the shots, since even denying the Huntsmen access to his ability would be a victory to them. But, if he could get a Break mark on her, and possibly Emerald, then he'd consider it a mission accomplished, especially if he managed to keep himself alive for 3 days afterwards.

Yang looked downwards, understanding the true message in Edward's words. He was worried about Atlesian Military or some shadier Huntsmen coming after him to bolster their own power. While her uncle could keep his booze in check, he did tell him a few stories about Huntsmen and Huntresses who had "lost their way" and how some military people were more interested in the results than they were about ethics of what they did to get those results.

And that request also probably extended to his Arrow as well, which she would have no problems keeping quiet. Not only did that thing give people superpowers, but it also had a chance of killing people. Though, she would definitely feel better if it was destroyed, but she felt okay with Edward keeping it safe. He seemed to be even more scared of the thing than she was.

Although she did admit that the idea of getting a ghostly warrior did sound cool and tempting, but she didn't want to risk dying; not before she tracked down her mom for some answers, and definitely not before she knew that Ruby could take care of herself, or had people she could rely on.

"Okay, I promise not to tell anyone." Ruby nodded. She hadn't thought of the possibility of bad guys finding out about Edward's Semblance.

"Yeah, I won't tell anyone about your secrets unless you give the OK." Yang added, to which Edward nodded, catching the hidden message. Now he just hoped that they would keep their promise.

"Thanks guys, and before I forget, **[Party Invite: Ruby Rose]**." A blue screen appeared in front of Ruby, and with an excited expression on her face, she pressed the accept button.

"Okay, so quick run down, you might feel a lot calmer in stressful situations, and as far as I know, voice commands only." Edward said, giving a quick and basic rundown of how the system worked.

"Try out the voice command by saying Status." He added, deciding to make Ruby aware of her special eyes before the proverbial manure truck hit the giant-sized fan. Hopefully either Ozpin or someone in his crew knew how to trigger the silver eyes, and hopefully it didn't require a friend getting cut apart, before a terrorist attack, followed by another friend getting insta-cremated with an arrow stabbed to the chest.

"Okay, **[Status]**." Ruby said, another window appearing in front of her. Her eyes blazed through the stat sheet, stopping dead in their tracks as she reached a particular part of it, her eyes widening in shock as she read it. And Edward could kind of understand what kind of shock she's experiencing. A piece of fiction becoming reality, although in his case, this kind of situation had been theorized before, while Ruby's case was something that she hadn't even heard of before.

And not to mention, his situation was somewhat mitigated by his **[Gamer's Mind]** skill. Actually a part of why he invited Ruby to the Party was in the hopes of avoiding her freaking out when she eventually found out about the effect of her eyes.

 **[For planning ahead and taking advantage of the effect granted by The Gamer's Party function, you gain 3 WIS and 2 INT!]**

"Ruby, what is it?" Yang asked in concern. She hadn't ever seen Ruby look so shocked before.

"If I had to make a guess, it's about the Silver eyes perk that she has." Edward put on a façade of ignorance as Yang's eyes widened, although far less than Ruby's did. And rather quickly, she moved next to Ruby, looking where the little reaper's eyes had stopped.

"Wait, so you knew about this? Why didn't you say any- oh right, the amnesia. Forgot about that." Yang realized as Edward tapped the side of his head. While the amnesia excuse was a hastily made one, by god, it was a convenient one.

"Let me guess, these _"Maidens"_ are some people, women if the name is any indication, who wield some magical powers?" Edward asked, just to make sure that he didn't land in some bizarre-verse of RWBY where the Maidens are actually men. Regardless, he didn't need a complex and detailed explanation of the story, although he might have to check out a book detailing either the Maidens or the Silver-eyed warriors, to see if there was any hint of any specific weaknesses or explanation of why the Maidens had a weakness to the Silver eyes.

Perhaps some kind of failsafe made by the Maidens' benefactor/creator in case one or several Maidens went rouge? Or was it just some other magic mumbo-jumbo?

"Pretty much yeah, and the Silver eyes are pretty much explained by the stat screen, except for the Maiden part." Ruby confirmed, finally coming back to reality, although she felt a bit weird. When she first noticed the perk on the screen, she honestly felt pretty shocked, mostly due to the advantage the perk gave against Maidens, who are supposed to be heroes, so why did the Silver-eyed warriors do more damage to Maidens?

Did it mean that the Maidens are bad guys, or were the Silver-eyed warriors the bad guys? But neither one made any sense, both groups _helped_ people, but then why were the Maidens weak to the warriors?

"Random shot in the dark here, what if one of the Maidens were to be turned against humanity? Or one of them had their powers stolen or something? Definitely seems like a possibility." Edward pointed out, deciding to cut Ruby's line of thought before it went too dark. No need to have the poor little reaperette think that either one of the heroic legends were lies.

The sisters nod, both of them understanding Edward's point, although Ruby believed that the second one was the true reason, while Yang saw both as things that could happen, especially with the existence of Stands, on the off-chance that there was one that could control people or absorb the magical energies of people.

"Anyway, there's another screen you can check out, called **[Skills]**." Edward said, causing another blue screen to appear before him.

 **[Skills:]**

 **Gamer's Mind |?|  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Gamer's Body |?|  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Observation |?|  
Active/Passive LV: 1  
EXP: 20/100**

 **ID Create |?|  
Active LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

 **ID Escape |?|  
Active LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

 **Firearms Proficiency |?|  
Passive Skill Effect: {Increase the power of Gun-based skills by 18%. Reduce the Skill Cost of Gun-based skills by 18%}  
Passive Skill LV: 9  
EXP: 15/900**

 **Axe Proficiency |?|  
Passive Skill Effect: {Increase the power of Axe-based skills by 15%. Reduce the Skill Cost of Axe-based skills by 15%}  
Passive Skill LV: 5  
EXP: 5/500**

 **Sense Danger |?|  
Passive Skill Effect: {Allows the user to detect when something bad might happen. The higher the skill level, the earlier the user can sense danger.}  
Passive Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

 **Meditation |?|  
Active Skill Effect: {The user regains 20 MP for every minute they stay put. If this skill is interrupted, then the user will have to wait for half the time they used before the skill was interrupted.}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 10/100**

 _'Well, I think I know what I'll be grinding up when we land.'_ Edward smiled as he read the list of Skills he had. With the plans he had for the future, Sense Danger was definitely a must, although he might have to rename it to something that rolls off the tongue a bit easier, and unlock the bloodlust-sensing version.

"Oh, neat. Alright then, let's see what **[Skills]** I have." Yang said, causing a window to appear in front of her.

"That's so cool! **[Skills]**." Ruby cheered, as a similar window appeared next to her, and she then started to read it.

While the two were absorbed in reading the descriptions of their skills, and seeing if they had any Skills they didn't know they had, Edward leaned against the ferry, planning on experimenting with Mana. If he wanted to survive and prosper here on Remnant, he would definitely have to start making some skills, mostly Energy Blast and such, so that he would have something to act as his "Semblance", instead of using his Stand, in case Maidens or proper Huntsmen could see them.

He did not want to tip his hand to Cinder or anyone in Ozpin's crew. Those dimwits would probably assume that he stole Amber's or another Maiden's powers, and then either send people to kill him, or knock him out, and hook him up to their Aura-transferring device.

 _'Let's see, Stand abilities use MP, so all I got to do is focus on the energy that I felt when I summoned 3-D's Grace.'_ Edward thought, focusing the energy towards his open palm that he held away from the two sisters, pointing it downwards. No need to disturb their little reading time while he played around.

And soon enough, there was a small ball of green energy, about the size of a tennis ball floating atop the palm of his hand.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Energy Blast has been created.]**

 **Energy Blast: A skill where the user shoots a sphere of mana from their hand.  
Active Skill Effect: {Damage is based on INT. Range: 10 Meters. MP Cost: 20.}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

Wondering what else he could do, Edward disassembled the orb, channeling the Mana making it up around his hand to form a blade. Hey, if it worked for Vegito, then it would work for him. Besides, there was no way in hell he was going to risk fighting anyone or anything with just Verde Carnicero, or his bare hands if he had to go into Melee-range without it.

And while yeah, his Aura could protect him if he decided to go fisticuffs, but he didn't intend on wasting the Aura for something that could be solved with a simple skill and thinking.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Mana Blade has been created.]**

 **Mana Blade: A skill where the user forms a blade of Mana, about 50 cm in length.  
Active Skill Effect: {Damage based on WIS. Range is based on how much MP is used for the skill. Cost: 15, with each additional 20 cm costing 5 MP.}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

Looking at the blade sprouting from his hand, Edward decided to play around a bit by changing the blade's shape, without lengthening it, and was pleased when his MP bar didn't drop any further. So, it didn't cost any additional MP to keep it active, just lengthening it would cost more MP. And the damage being based on his Wisdom stat kinda made sense, since Energy Blast wasn't anything complex, just shooting Mana at the target. It was raw power, thus basing its power on Intelligence while Mana Blade was a bit more about how you used the power, thus relying on Wisdom.

 _'Hm, I wonder if I can use this thing similar to the Scorpion Trigger?'_ He wondered as he dispersed the blade. Now that he thought about it, in theory, he could make his Energy Blast act like the Asteroid Trigger from World Trigger. Although, he severely doubted that he could make them track the target like Hounds did, or change direction after being shot.

Edward was broken out of his musings as he felt a tingling at the edge of his senses, and it wasn't the good kind of tingling, it was the kind that told you that there was danger coming in. And it seemed like that Danger was also noticed by L4PRS' crew as the claxon started going off.

 **#Ahem, dear passengers, please head under the deck as fast as you, as we have spotted a Nereus, and it seems to be heading for us.#** One of the ferry's crewmen announced through the ferry's speaker system. The regular passengers followed the instructions, although their pace belied a sense of great stress and slight fear. And soon enough, the only ones left on deck were Yang, Ruby and Edward.

 **[Urgent Emergency Quest: "Thar She Blows!" has been created!]**

 **A Nereus, a species of aquatic Grimm, has been spotted by the Ferry's crew. Help defend the ferry until it reaches Patch.**

 **Victory Conditions:** **  
-Enemy HP drops to 0{+1000 EXP}  
-Enemy flees{+600 EXP}  
-The ferry reaches Patch intact{+500 EXP. Increased friendship with [Ruby] and [Yang]. Increased popularity with [?], [?] and [?]}**

 **Losing Conditions:  
-Party Member's HP drops to 0  
-The ferry's Durability drops to 0**

"What the hell is a Nereus?" Edward wondered, equipping Verde Carnicero. The series hadn't really talked about any Grimm other than land-based and air-based ones, and even then, he doubted that those Grimm were the only ones. And considering how this ferry seemed to lack any real heavy fire-power, he felt safe assuming that this Nereus was that big of a deal, but better safe than dead. Plus, the EXP didn't hurt.

"It's a big fish of a Grimm that attacks from afar. And from the sounds of it, this one is bigger than what usually hangs around Vale and Patch." Yang supplied, following Edward, who was running to where he was sensing the danger coming from.

"Yeah, Nereids usually move in groups of four, attacking ships with their spikes." Ruby added, Crescent rose in gun form. Although Nereids were somewhat of an uncommon sight near these waters, sometimes Hunter Academies did get jobs to eliminate them before they grew big enough to sink ships on their own, and they usually only chose third-year students _(Those lucky jerks)_ to carry out the task, as a sort of a test.

"So, this one could be compared to an Ursa Major or something." Edward said, trying to pinpoint the Grimm's exact location. If the Nereus was attacking the ship alone, then it must be big enough to be confident to sink the ship, or cause enough negativity to attract reinforcements. He severely doubted that the Huntsmen or the Government would allow older Grimm to inhabit the waters near Patch, or between it and Vale, so this one was more than likely somewhere in the middle-ground of an Alpha and a normal Grimm.

Too bad the sun wasn't up, since if it followed the basic colors that the Grimm had, then it would have stuck out against the water like a sore thumb. Although, the moonlight did somewhat help things, as Edward spotted the Nereus, or rather the top part of its head. It wasn't all that big, if he had to estimate its size merely by what was above the waves, it was maybe slightly bigger than a van, a bone plating covering its forehead, with spikes jutting out of it, the soulless red eyes of the Grimm glowed as it stared at the ship.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Grimm\  
Nereus LV: 14  
Maturity: Juvenile**

 **HP: 161  
MP: 90**

 **Nereids usually hunt in groups of four, but when they grow older, they tend to separate, confident in their capability to inflict harm to mankind with their poisonous barbs. Mature Nereids specialize in mortar tactics, shooting from afar to inflict panic and fear to attract other Grimm to serve as their guards from melee attackers. However, Young Nereids tend to ram against their targets, and then shoot their barbs at the target, which contain a slight paralyzing agent that hinders the movement of those who are hit by the barbs.**

 **EXP Yield: 1400**

 **Item Drops: Replica Grimm leather (x10), Replica Nereus Barbs (x30), Replica Grimm Bone plating{Medium] (x1)**

"Ruby, you head upwards so you'll have a better vantage point to snipe this thing." Edward said, taking control of things. Yang couldn't hit this thing with her Ember Celica, and he knew that he couldn't bust the bone plating with his bullets, so the task would fall onto Ruby, her Crescent Rose being part high-caliber sniper rifle.

And while he probably could have reached the Nereus with his Stand, he didn't want to risk the Grimm being able to actually hurt it, let alone paralyze it. He'd rather test how badly Grimm hurt Stands with Beowolves and Ursai, since they were among the weakest of Grimm, with the Beowolf being the equivalent of a Slime.

Plus, 3-D Grace's main ability, Break, wouldn't help them at all, since unless he forgot something, Creatures of Grimm grew stronger, smarter and bigger with age. Now, he didn't know if the Grimm growing stronger and smarter was to be taken literally, or to take it as _"Hey, these Grimm have survived fights with Huntsmen, so they're smarter and stronger from their previous experiences"_ , but he wasn't in any real hurry to test that theory out on a Grimm that had home-field advantage.

"Got it!" Ruby nodded, jumping towards the upper deck. She knew that fighting a Nereus with a melee weapon while it was in the water wasn't smart, not unless you had a weapon and a Semblance that would even the odds. And while she may have loved her sweetheart, she knew that Crescent Rose would…problematic to use underwater. Plus, she didn't want any water damage onto her baby.

* * *

 **[Command deck…]**

"Well boyos, it seems like we got some Huntsmen on-board." The ship's captain noted as Ruby landed onto the Ferry's upper deck, balancing her weapon against the railing, aiming it at the Nereus. Him and his crew were just starting to activate the ship's cannons, but if there were Huntsmen on board, then their help wouldn't be critical.

"But don't think that means that ye can just laze about! Keep an eye out for any other Grimm! And send out an SOS signal to Patch!" he barked out his orders. Just cause these Huntsmen-in-training would be taking care of the Nereus, it didn't mean that other Grimm wouldn't be attracted by the negativity the passengers might feel. So, the safest move would be to activate the cannons and send out a signal for help.

"AYE, SIR!" the crew shouted as one, activating the cannons. Sure, their cannons might not be able to shoot right behind them, but if the Nereus decided to try and attack them from the sides or an angle, it'd have a spicy meatball or 3 ready for it.

* * *

 **[Back with the fight…]**

"Alright Ed, got a plan to take this thing down?" Yang inquired, sizing the Nereus up. While she wasn't exactly dead-beat tired from the brawl at Junior's, she wasn't doing so hot in terms of hands-on ammo, and she knew that fisticuffing with an aquatic Grimm in its natural element was practically suicide.

"To be perfectly honest with you Yang, no, no I do not." Edward answered, although he did consider strapping someone onto a long pole, and then wait and see if the fish bit, but he figured that would turn his acquaintance with Yang and Ruby rather sour. So, he'd have to go with an alternate plan.

He had heard the ferry open up its sides, more than likely to unsheathe its cannons, so the smartest plan of action would be to try and get the Nereus in the cannon's range. That however was the biggest problem, since he doubted that it would be dumb enough to come at them from the side, especially if it had survived a previous encounter with another ship like this.

However, Edward was broken out of his musings as the Nereus had decided to stop waiting around and launched its barbs at the ship, sinking beneath the waves to dodge a cannonball from the ship.

"Oh no you don't, **[Mana Barrier]**!" Edward threw his hand forward, a hexagonal barrier of mana appearing in front of him and Yang, and he hoped that the makeshift barrier would hold.

And it didn't seem all that good as the 20 cm-long barbs impacted the barrier, digging into it, but they soon enough lost their momentum, dropping onto the deck as Edward dismissed the barrier. From how his mana bar had dropped, the skill cost 10 MP.

"Okay then, you'll be the shield." Yang said, taking the surprise of Edward manifesting a barrier from his own energy in stride. Considering what Edward had shown her during the short three hours she had knew him, him being able to stuff like that didn't surprise her all that much. And considering that she didn't sense any Aura depletion, he probably used Mana, or MP as the stat sheet had shown.

"Got no problems with that." Edward nodded. If this Grimm kept going with these hit and run tactics, then they'd be taking some serious damage. And with his remaining MP, he'd only have enough Mana for six more barriers, if he didn't use any other Skills.

And it wasn't like they could play the waiting game with it, as the longer they took defeating it, the more negativity the passengers would be feeling, which would in turn attract more Grimm, possibly even older ones. A very bad scenario if he ever saw one.

"Anyway, wh-OH BLOODY SHIT!" Edward cursed as the ferry rocked wildly, and looking down to the rotor, he saw why. The Nereus had rammed itself into the rotor **[21400/26000]** , attempting to hinder the ferry's capability to escape. And while the damage didn't stop the rotors from turning, he couldn't tell how long that would last.

In retaliation, Edward fired around where his **[Sense Danger]** skill felt the Nereus, hoping to hit the elusive Grimm. He wasn't sure if his shots had reached it, until he saw the dark red meter with a black skull on the other corner of his vision decrease a bit **[-14 HP. 147/161]**.

Now however, the Nereus was out of his Skill's range, so he, along with Yang were pretty much in the dark on where the next attack would be coming from. On another note, Edward had found yet another reason to get more sensory Skills, namely that his current one did jack if the danger wasn't aiming to attack him, but instead the battlefield. And while he doubted that the same could be said if the attack activated some kind of a trap, the situation at hand was of more importance.

"Oh crap-baskets." Yang said as she noticed that the ferry was losing speed, and although the drop was pretty small, it could still mean the difference between them reaching Patch, and them becoming sitting ducks for any Grimm that happened to notice the vessel.

Edward chose to ignore Yang's censored cussing in favor of trying to come up with a way to get the Nereus out of its home-field, and onto the deck. Dragging it by hand was a no-no, he didn't want to find out if the poison even by-passed Aura. So, the only options left were a harpoon gun, something that he wasn't even sure would hit the bastard, and him making a Bind skill (which now that he thought about it, didn't sound like that bad of an idea). But that idea had the same problems as the harpoon had, he couldn't spot the Nereus, so he couldn't exactly hit the damn bastard with anything.

"Incoming!" Yang shouted as the Nereus shot another volley of barbs, prompting Edward to spawn another [Mana Barrier] to block it. But this time, the Nereus had shot the barbs in a more spread-out cluster, some of the barbs piercing the ferry's hull **[20300/26000]**.

However, the Nereus had made one simple mistake after firing the volley, not diving beneath the waves. Something that proved to be a big mistake, as Ruby took the shot, the resulting impact tearing away the upper right corner of the Nereus' mask, and it made its discomfort known with a pained roar as it dove beneath the waves once more **[-20 HP. 127/161]**.

"WOO, bullseye!" Ruby cheered, doing a small fist pump when she saw the Nereus run away from her awesomeness.

 **#While I hate ta piss on yer parade lass, we got one of 'em Shipbreakers breaching our bottom hull, so one of ye needs to head down below and get rid of it so that one of my boys can go and patch up the hole.#** The apparent captain of the ferry piped in. While he certainly would take joy in seeing that overgrown, spike-covered balloon of a menace, they had other problems.

"Ed, you head down and take it out, leave the Nereus to me and Ruby." Yang said. She wasn't exactly the most… environment-friendly whenever she fought, especially if her sweet baby lost even a single strand. And the last thing they needed was more damage to the ship.

"O-Oi, shouldn't you be the one to head down below, you're the one who's a melee fighter." Edward argued back. He was the only one among them who could effectively block the Nereus' long-range attacks, so he should be the one to stay up on the deck, while Yang took out the Shipbreaker, whatever that was.

"Yeah but you're running low on MP, so you can take the chance to replenish it while letting your Stand take out the Shipbreaker." Yang pointed out, glancing at the blue bar above Edward's head. Besides, her aura should protect her from the paralyzing venom. Sure, it would hurt like all hell, but she could still keep moving.

"Alright fine, got any pointers for this _"Shipbreaker"_? I assume it's another aquatic Grimm?" Edward asked, seeing Yang's point. Besides, he could use this as an opportunity to test out an idea he had for stopping this tactical blitzkrieg bullshit the Nereus was pulling on them. Even if it didn't manage to take out even one of them, it was still annoying.

"Just avoid getting caught by the pincers and aim for the soft spots." Yang said. Edward nodded, already having some idea of what kind of Grimm would be waiting down at the bottom of the ship.

"Alright, but don't you or Ruby DARE to die to this thing!" Edward shouted as he ran into the ship. They both were too valuable to his plans to die here, especially to that baby of a Grimm.

* * *

 **[Inside the ship…]**

"Oi, Huntsman lad, this way!" A scruffy seaman wearing a blue and white striped sleeveless shirt hollered over to Edward. A quick observation told him that the man was Level 8, no Semblance or Aura unlocked, and his history also didn't hold anything of any discernable worth, so he didn't bother reading the man's name.

"The cap'n sent me to lead ye down to where the scurvy beast is doing damage, the name's Adrion Odell, glad to meet ye." The man introduced himself in a hurry as he led Edward deeper into the ferry's hold. And as they descended lower, Edward could hear the faint sound of metal being torn and smashed apart, along with water splashing.

"Okay then, so we're in deep shit." Edward grimaced as they reached the bottom floor, and the door leading to where the sound was coming from, or the cargo room, as the sign on the door said. The Grimm was probably either wrecking the cargo, or even worse, making the hole even bigger.

The seaman nodded in agreement. Not only was their cargo in danger, but if the hole got bigger and bigger, then not only would they be taking in too much water, but the Nereus would also be able to enter the ship and do much, _MUCH_ worse damage.

"Alright then, I'm going in. Do not come in unless I tell you to, unless you want to die." Edward said as he entered the cargo room, not giving the surprised Adrion a chance to come after him. For what he was going to do, he couldn't afford to leave any witnesses, and although he would appreciate the drops from the seaman, he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks this early.

As he locked the door with 3-D's Grace, Edward looked at the Grimm that was crouching in the middle of the cargo room, smashing its pincers against the metal to make the man-sized hole even bigger. Looking at it from behind, Edward could see that it resembled a humanoid lobster about a meter tall, with white bone plates protecting its back. From what he could see, the joints were unprotected by the carapace, shoving the black flesh underneath.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Grimm\  
Shipbreaker LV: 9  
Maturity: Young Adult.**

 **HP: 99  
MP: 40**

 **While Shipbreakers lack in size and speed when compared to some other aquatic Grimm, their pincers are powerful enough to cut into metal and their carapace is strong enough to block a bullet or a dozen. However, as these Grimm prefer to hide away as they mature, they lack the combat experience that other Grimm develop while fighting against Huntsmen and Huntresses, and thus are among the weakest of Grimm.**

 **EXP Yield: 900**

 **Item Drops: Replica Shipbreaker pincers (x2), Replica Grimm Bone plating{Small] (x10)**

Summoning his Stand as he crouched down, Edward sent out his Mana along the floor, stopping as it attached to the Shipbreaker's feet. The Grimm didn't show any sign of noticing what Edward did. "Let's see if this works, **[I.D Create: Void]**." He quietly said as he hoped that his gamble worked.

 **"Bughee!?"** The Shipbreaker screeched in confusion as it's pincer's failed to hit its intended target. In fact, the whole vessel of men was gone, replaced by a blank emptiness.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: ID Trap has been created.]**

 **ID Trap: A skill where the user drags other beings into their Illusion Barriers.  
Active Skill Effect: {Drags targets within range into the user's ID. Any EXP to this Skill is also given to ID Create. Range: 5 Meters. MP Cost: 25.}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

"YES, the plan worked!" Edward smiled as 3-D's Grace grabbed the confused Grimm in a full nelson, taking glee as the Grimm flailed around in vain as it attempted to free itself from the hold, but its pincers were unable to bend enough to even try attacking the Stand's arms. While he was trying to come up with a way to get the Nereus out of the water, he had thought back to the Gamer manhwa, more specifically how the characters in The Gamer could stumble into Illusion Barriers or get dragged into one, so he wondered: _What's stopping him from dragging other beings into his Illusion Barriers?_

The only qualm he had with attempting it before was that if he failed, the Nereus would be free to start peppering the ship with more shots, or possibly escape. However, in this cargo room, with a far weaker Grimm, he felt quite comfortable with his odds of success.

 **[For coming up with a new useful to use ID Create, you gain 3 WIS and 3 INT!]**

Sitting down in a cross-legged position, Edward activated his **[Meditation]** , keeping it up until he heard the satisfying ding of his MP fully recharging.

Smirking, Edward walked over to the flailing Shipbreaker, phasing through his Stand as he held both of his hands out, stopping when the Shipbreaker's head was in the space between them.

Then, he spawned two **[Mana Blades]** , smiling in glee as the Shipbreaker starter screeching and writhing in pain as the blades dug into its eyes **[-68 HP. 31/99]** , before Edward thinned the blades, twisting the blades backwards into the soulless monster's head **[-52 HP. RETIRED!]** , causing the screeching and writhing to stop as the Grimm's body went slack, smoke coming off from the fresh carcass.

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV11]  
Current EXP: 675/1100**

Dispelling the blades and the Illusion Barrier, Edward had his Stand drop the carcass as he walked over to the door, and opened it, causing Adrion to jump back and pretend that he wasn't trying to listen through the steel door. "Oi, got rid of the Grimm, so start fixing up the hole." Edward said bluntly, staying with Adrion as the man nodded, running over to the hole with a blowtorch and steel panel in hand.

"Well, you did a damn fine job, now just wait for a couple of minutes while I patch up this hole." Adrion said as he started welding the steel panel in place. Edward took the chance to use **[Meditate]** , recharging his MP as the man worked as fast as he could to tightly plug up the hole.

"Alright, it's all patched up, now go and help out the lasses." Adrion said as he finished the patchwork. It would hold for now, but if they kept taking hits like that, then they'd be up to their ears in crap.

Edward left before Adrion even had a chance to turn towards him, overlapping his own legs with those of his Stand to run faster than he could with his own.

And when he finally reached the top deck, he was pleased to find that Yang wasn't resembling a pincushion, unlike most of the deck, empty shotgun shells and the remains of shattered barbs littering the deck.

"Hey Ed, glad to see that you in one piece." Yang greeted, reloading her weapon.

"Hey, give me some credit. Anyway, what's the situation, did the Nereus damage the rotors even more?" Edward asked.

"Nah, the big guy's been hanging back and blasting us with barbs before diving, which is getting real annoying." Yang said, her lilac-colored eyes gaining a red tint to them.

"Well then, it's good that I got a plan to take the Nereus out of the water." Edward said, sighing in relief as Yang's eyes lost the red tint. The last thing he needed right now was Yang going super and accidentally wrecking the ship.

"I sense a _'but'_ coming…" Yang narrowed her eyes. Edward's tone didn't carry a sense of triumph when he said that he had a plan.

"Well, we have to be pretty close to it, five meters or less in order to get this to work." Edward explained, just as another volley of barbs started coming down on them, the two jumped away from the volley, the barbs burying themselves into the deck with a solid _thunk_ sound.

"Well, I doubt that it'll come over if we just ask nicely." Yang said as Ruby took another shot at the Nereus, only for the Dust round to graze it as it dove under **[-10 HP. 117/161]**.

"Yeah, so we need to draw it in closer." Edward scratched his chin in thought, trying to come up with a plan to draw the Nereus closer to the ship. The obvious idea would be to cause more negativity to draw it in, but that could attract other Grimm in the area, so that's a no-go. And it wasn't like they could just kill the engines, since being a sitting duck was _NOT_ a good idea in this situation.

"Eureka!" Finally, Edward came up with an idea. "Oi Ruby!" he hollered to the small reaperrette on the higher deck.

"Yeah?" Ruby looked away from her scope to look at Edward.

"I need you to stop shooting at the Nereus." Edward said, drawing in odd looks from the two sisters.

"Umm… why?" Ruby asked, not understanding what Edward was planning. She could keep shooting at it when it tried to shoot at them, and Edward had could make those barriers, so why was he asking her to stop shooting at it?

"Well, I got a plan, and a Skill that I tested before, to get it out of the water. The downside is, I need to be at most five meters away from it." Edward explained. If the Nereus thought that they no longer had any ammo left, then the Nereus would come in closer to wreck the rotors for good.

"Oh, okay, we're setting a trap." Ruby realized, while Yang gave a thumbs-up of approval at the plan Edward was proposing.

"Tell the ship's crew to cut their rate of fire to half, we can't have the Nereus get suspicious about the lack of resistance." Edward added. Even if the Grimm wasn't old enough to form a complete plan, it was obviously smart enough to keep firing when he wasn't around to make shields, so he didn't want to risk the Grimm realizing that it was heading for a trap, not before it was too late for it to escape.

"Got it!" Ruby said as she ran to tell the captain what they were planning.

"So, you mind telling me about this super Skill that you're planning to use?" Yang asked in curiosity.

"Hmm, it's a bit hard to explain properly, but think of it as a fighting arena-like dimension that I can drag enemies into." Edward hoped that his brief explanation was simple enough for Yang to understand. He didn't know what kind of video games Remnant had, aside from that one Street Fighter-like one that Qrow played with Yang.

"Interesting…" Yang raised a single eyebrow at the explanation, noting to herself to ask what kind of enemies, if any, this arena could provide. After a while, beating in the heads of Beowolves and Ursai got pretty boring, so she was excited at the prospect of getting to fight something new.

And so, they waited, dodging the occasional barbs that the Nereus shot at them, before diving beneath the waves to avoid the cannons. This kept going on for a while, and Edward couldn't help but wonder if the Nereus had decided to escape rather than keep fighting.

However, that idea was quickly thrown away as his Danger Sense alarmed him of the Nereus approaching the rotors. He grinned as the situation couldn't be much better for him, with him being right at the edge of the ferry's rear-end, there being a three-meter distance to the rotors.

"You're in my range, **[ID Trap: Void]**!" Edward shouted, using his Mana to shine a blinding light from his hand as the world around him, Yang, Ruby, and more importantly, the Nereus was replaced by the blank void that was his ID.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Mana Flash has been created.]**

 **Mana Flash: A skill where the user creates a flash bang-esque effect with their Mana, intended to use to blind enemy forces.  
Active Skill Effect: {Enemies who see the flash have their accuracy reduced by 70%. Range: 30 Meters. MP Cost: 5.}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

"Got you, you damn overgrown sushi dish!" he grinned as the Nereus flopped around on the featureless ground, confused as to how it got there, and where the ship full of humans had disappeared to.

However, the Grimm then something that Edward hadn't expected, and leapt towards them, intent on bashing his head in with its bulk. Too bad it wasn't faster than Yang and Ruby, who took full advantage of the Grimm entering melee range, Yang stopping its momentum with a shotgun blast-enhanced punch **[-89 HP. 26/161]** , and Ruby bisecting it at an angle with her Crescent Rose's scythe form **[-141 HP. 0/161. RETIRED!]**.

 **[Ruby Rose has reached LV20]  
Current EXP: 350/2000**

 **[Yang Xiao Long has reached LV23]  
Current EXP: 52/2300**

 **[Edward Smith has reached LV13]  
Current EXP: 975/1300**

" **[ID Escape]**." Edward smiled as the void around them, putting the trio, and the bisected corpse back on the ferry's deck. Sure, that fight might have been anticlimactic to say the least, but he'd rather not dilly-dally around in the ID, not when there were witnesses to see them disappear.

"YAY! WE DID IT!" Ruby cheered as the Nereus' corpse started to disintegrate into the black smoke that Grimm always did. Now that Edward could observe it in more detail, the Nereus looked like a combination of a stonefish and a lionfish, which now that he thought about it, made more sense, considering how it seemed to use its big fins to glide when it tried to leap at him.

"Huh, neat." Yang remarked as she looked at the level up notification that hanged in front of her.

 **#Well, I'll be a beringel's uncle, ye kids managed to butcher that big puffer real good. Anyway, we'll be arriving in Patch's harbor in a jiffy.#** The captain's voice a carried a joyful tone to it as some of the crew came out, and picked up the Nereus' corpse, carrying it towards the water to toss it overboard.

"Say Ed, what was that thing you did?" Ruby asked as the Nereus was tossed overboard with a splash.

"Well, think of it as a pocket dimension I can access, and if need be, pick a version that has enemies in it." As Edward explained it in a bit more detail, Ruby nodded, understanding what he was saying.

"COOL! So uh, do these enemies drop _loot_? Like, perhaps some materials that can be used to make weapons?" Ruby asked, the smile on her face failing to hide her interest in building weapons out of materials not found on Remnant.

"Well, the two Grimms we took out did drop some crafting materials, so I'm sure that a crafter who knows what they're doing could make some weapons, or add-ons to a pre-existing weapon." Edward answered, a teasing smile on his face. Of course she'd be excited at the prospect of making a possibly mystical weapon with unknown properties.

"Hey, speaking of weapons, mind letting me take a look at yours?" Ruby asked, remembering that she hadn't gotten a good look at it with all the stuff with the Grimm attacking.

"Sure." Edward handed Verde Carnicero to Ruby, who started looking the weapon over with a critical eye, looking at it from different angles, shifting it from travel mode to axe form, and then to assault rifle.

 _'Hmm…the weapon seems to be in a pretty good condition, but something feels off…'_ Ruby had seen a number of weapons ever since she started studying at Signal, ranging from simple guns that had a blade attached to them, to a complex piece of art like her baby, but one thing was a constant among all of them. They all emitted a kind of a warmth that was the result of a lot of care, love and pride that came not only from the weapon being built, but also from being kept in good condition.

And yet, when she looked over Edward's weapon, she couldn't feel any of that warmth from Edward's weapon, only thing she could feel from it was cold indifference and bitter determination. And it definitely wasn't the result of a weapon being kept in bad shape, quite the opposite, the weapon looked just perfect, no sign of misuse or shoddy repair work anywhere.

This puzzled Ruby a lot, as even a freshly-made weapon should have _some_ warmth to them, but the weapon in her hands felt completely numb in her hands. But aside from the little oddities, the weapon was definitely meant to be used in a fight, the amount of moving parts being rather small making it a sturdy, if not a bit simplistic weapon that could switch between ranged and melee pretty quickly.

"Something wrong, Ruby?" Edward asked, breaking her out of her thought process.

"Uh, it's nothing." Ruby said, handing Verde Carnicero back to Edward. The numbness probably came from his Amnesia or something, nothing to worry about.

* * *

 **AN: And that's all folks, and MERRY CHRIIIIISTMAS! But yeah, sorry you guys had to wait so long for this chapter, but I was sorta busy drawing the Grimms that were in this chapter (plus Pokemon Sun came out…). Also, can you tell that this was my first time fighting a seaside battle? Yeah, I'm not all that good when it comes to writing fights like that.**

 **But anyway, to clear up some things, yes, this story is going to be different from the Canon, whether it be what effect the Silver Eyes have on Maidens to what Semblance Ren or Jaune may have. Granted, I could wait for those things to be revealed, but I don't have the time for that. Also, yeah, Ruby can sorta get a feel of a person by analyzing their weapon. Which would make sense, considering how most, if not all Huntsmen and Huntresses build their own Weapons, so their weapons are bound to tell a bit about their user, even something as insignificant as their favorite color.**

 **Also man, I fucking love the RWBY content we've been getting, especially the WOR Videos, and speaking of which, Weiss' Grandfather is literally SANTA! Anybody else thinking that the only reason he's still in no condition to run the SDC is because Jacque is slowly poisoning him?**

 **So yeah, feel free to expect chapters of this length regarding this story, and other stories that started with a chapter of similar length. And speaking of stories, I have a Poll deciding the story that will replace Enduring Soul, and it'll be up until the end of January, so drop a vote before it's too late.**

 **Guest reviews answered:**

 **PsionicsKnight(26th of October, 2016):** Well, most of the chapter did take place in nightclub/bar run by a gang boss, so the swearing was a bit more present than what it would have been in other locations. And about Edward not changing things, yeah, well, this is only the start, so the changes will be coming a bit later.

* * *

 **Edward's Current Stat Sheet.**

 **Edward Smith LV: 13  
EXP: 975/1300  
Stand: 3-D's Grace**

 **HP: 150  
MP: 95/120  
Aura: 237**

 **STR: 11  
INT: 30  
VIT: 10  
WIS: 31  
DEX: 12  
AGI: 10**

 **Points: 36  
Lien: 26100**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:** **  
Aura Unlocked: Your Aura has been unlocked, thus giving you limited protection from bullets.{Damage lower than your current Aura is deducted from your Aura, until it hits 0, then you will take damage normally.}**

 **And now for out new segment on this chapter, Grimm glossary, where we will be portraying the stats of each Grimm species as they appear, and the first entries will be the two Grimms created for this chapter. And first up is the Nereus, a Grimm that was created by HaveBookWillTravel, a great RWBY writer, and I highly suggest you go read his story.**

 **Also, take note that these stats are a representation of the Grimm Species itself, and not the individual Grimm.**

* * *

 **Grimm Glossary.**

 **Grimm Entry: 01.**

 **Grimm Species: Nereus**

 **Power: C  
Agility: B  
Range: A  
Durability: C  
Precision: A  
Developmental Potential: D**

 **Summary: The Nereids are a species of sea-dwelling Grimm that fight primarily at a range, their poisonous barbs carrying a paralyzing toxin. Usually moving in groups of 4, they target civilian vessels, shooting at them to cause enough stir to attract more Grimm to the scene. Older specimen have been known to glide across the ground using their gigantic fins as they leap at their target when on land. However, the Nereids do this as a last resort, since their flabby bodies are not well suited to fight at close range.**

* * *

 **And next off, we have one that was named by HaveBookWillTravel, and designed by me.**

* * *

 **Grimm Entry: 02.**

 **Grimm Species: Shipbreaker**

 **Power: B  
Agility: D  
Range: D  
Durability: B  
Precision: C  
Developmental Potential: E**

 **Summary: While rather slow, the Shipbreakers are not to be underestimated, as their pincers can break bone, and enough blows can even break steel. However, despite their power, these Grimm would rather turn their backs to the fight rather than take it like a man, and considering their sturdy exoskeleton, killing them from the back is rather hard to do, but with a strong enough blow, the exoskeleton can be broken through.**

* * *

 **So yeah, I might need to make a separate "story" for all the additional info, as these Author notes are getting a bit crowded, or is it just me? Oh yeah, and here's an explanation about the Grimm stats:**

 **Power:** Whether it be sheer physical power, or other dangerous elements meant to take down huntsmen, they'll be taken into account here.

 **Agility:** Speed, how well the Grimm species in question handles the speed and so on.

 **Range:** How far the Grimm species in question can reach with its attack

 **Durability:** How much damage they can take before dying.

 **Precision:** Are they a brute that's swinging madly, or are they a snake waiting for a weak spot to open up?

 **Developmental Potential:** How intelligent, how much they change as they grow older.

 **Also, what do you think of the new skills that Edward made? The Illusion Barriers are always used in Gamer fics, but nobody that I have seen have thought of using them in the way that they seemed to be intended, to drag enemies into unfavorable battles. And yeah, I've been reading World Trigger, along with a few other Manga and Manhua.**

 **And I also just watched JoJo4: DIU's finale, and dammit, it tugged at my heartstrings, definitely hungry for any news about Vento Aureo getting an anime release.**

 **Anyway, here's the question of the chapter:** If you could choose between having a Semblance or having a Stand, which one would you pick?


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello you beautiful people on the internet, and the not-so beautiful, I'm back with a new chapter of this story. Sorry about taking so long with this, but RL, Fate/Extra and Gundam got in the way, but I'm back.**

 **Also, yeah, from now on, I won't be doing 10K chapters on regular basis. That stuff is _murder_ on my mind.**

 **And one last note, I have now graduated, I am a certified media-assistant for animation and game production.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **_'skill'_ ** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **#Speaking through a Scroll#**

 **[Game Data]**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

"So, is this normal… Grimm attacking ferries I mean? Memory's a bit hazy on that." Edward asked Yang as the ship docked into port. Considering that Volumes 1-3 only focused on Beacon, and occasionally the city and Mountain Glen, any Grimm activity he _"knew"_ of mainly focused on forested areas, with Ursai and Beowolves being the majority. He didn't know jack-shit about the sea, nor the air really, but travelling through the sky seemed to be a walk in the park; Nevermores, Griffins and other airborne Grimm probably weren't all that common, especially if anti-air cannons weren't a normal part of the scenery in human residences.

"Kind of; it happens every now and then." Yang replied, giving a so-and-so motion with her hand. "Although, around this time of year, there aren't that many Nereids or other Grimm moving about in the ocean," she elaborated, noting how utterly weird it felt explaining basic stuff that anyone born in Vale or Patch would have known about.

"Yeah, Signal lets graduating students go on a hunting trip." Ruby added.

Edward nodded in understanding. "I see, and I assume that the other students get rid of the Grimm that live on land, like Beowolves and Ursai?" he inquired, getting a nod of confirmation from the sisters.

"Yeah, and this year there was a huge Beowolf, but I just went in sliced it in half. The Beowolf was all like; _"Arrarrargh!"_ , and I was like; _swish, swish, stab_!" Ruby's 'storytelling' was accentuated by her first acting like a Beowolf recoiling back from something, and then her swinging her arms around. In all honesty, it was adorable, like a small puppy dog prancing around on two legs. The bit of levity brought a small, honest smile to his face.

"But yeah, right about now Patch should be clear of Grimm, save for the occasional straggler." Yang out her arm around Ruby, causing her to stop her flailing. While it was adorable, it was also kind of embarrassing.

"Well, that's good for any families here, no need to worry about Grimm for most of the time, yeah?" Edward asked as they walked down the stairs that had been laid from the ship to the wooden dock. 'I suppose that's why Ruby was raised here of all places…' Yeah, that made sense; a small, rather inconspicuous cottage in the middle of the forest on a largely Grimm-free island would make a good place to hide a genetic inheritor of a superweapon. Unlike a military compound, it also drew a lot less attention.

Not to mention the presence of the Signal Academy ensured that Ruby would've gotten training in a safe environment, and made meaningful connections with other people.

"Yeah, I guess that's why dad chose to settle here, not to mention the atmosphere." Yang mused with a smile on her face.

"Actually, about that," Edward said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I think it might be better if I just rent a motel room or something." While Ruby and Yang might believe his amnesiac BS, for now, and let him stay at their place for a while, Edward was pretty damn sure that Taiyang would instantly see through his act. And considering that he was a full-grown Huntsman, not even Edward's Stand could help him, especially if the shit he saw Qrow and Winter pull off in V3 was just them playing around.

"Huh, why?" Ruby asked, nose crinkling in confusion.

"Well, I wouldn't want to worry your folks with you young ladies bringing a strange, armed guy to your home." Edward explained, and while Ruby was somewhat bemused by his implications, Yang perfectly understood what Edward was insinuating.

"Oh. Oh, right! You've got a point." Yang said, a bit embarrassed of how she didn't think this whole thing through to the end. She had just wanted to make sure that Edward and that Arrow of his didn't end up in the hands of criminals. Plus, her dad could probably contact someone who would know more about it, and exactly how Eddie had what was essentially a Super-Semblance… you know, on top of his already bizarre real Semblance, that didn't really work like any Semblance she had seen.

"Huh? What do you—oh, yeah, that would be awkward…" Ruby nodded as she realized what he meant. While Dad would probably be proud of them helping someone, bringing some stranger right into their home would be a pretty dumb move, even if they put Zwei to keep an eye on him.

"Yep. Anyway, could you give me some directions to the local inn or motel?" Edward asked. As much fun as hanging with Yang and Ruby was, he really needed to start grinding up the levels on ID Create and start crafting some better stuff, like armor and such. He couldn't really keep do that efficiently if he had to keep up the amnesiac act.

Yang pointed towards a three-story building with an axe resting within an open casket and the text _"Buried Hatchet Inn"_ painted under it. "That's the usual spot for people who want to visit Patch for more than a few days, real cheap too." She explained before walking in-between two stacks of wooden crates, and took Bumblebee out of the **[Inventory]**.

"Man, this Semblance of yours is really useful." Yang noted with glee as she pushed her motorcycle out from between the stacks, not seeing even a single thing off about the vehicle that she worked on enough times to be able to feel when the weight was off by even a little bit.

 _'And all it cost me was my memory… talk about a steal.'_ Edward thought sarcastically, watching Yang and Ruby put on their helmets. Just because they had Aura didn't mean that they should drive recklessly.

"Alright, see you ladies later." Edward grinned, giving them a two-finger salute.

The sisters nodded, Ruby giving a two-fingered salute of her own in response. "Yeah, see ya later Eddy. And don't worry, I'm sure that you'll find your past eventually" Yang gave a kind smile before driving off with Ruby.

 _'It sure will be a surprise if they actually did find out on their own. Not that I'll let that happen.'_ Edward thought with a sardonic smirk as he walked towards the Buried Hatchet. After securing a room, he'd disband the little party he had formed with Yang and Ruby, and when, or if they asked him about it, he'd lie about there being a certain range to how far his Party function could stretch if he didn't actively keep it up.

If he just said that there was a certain range, like say, 30-to-50 meters for example, his whole act would be in jeopardy if, or rather when the Party function still worked when the members would be further away from each other than what the pre-established range would allow, and any further lies could be even more dangerous.

His initial lie of Amnesia would serve him well for the time that it would take him to either enter Beacon, or find some other source of information, and he could shed most of his façade, and then all he would need to avoid mentioning would be classified info, and even then, some of that classified info, like Penny's true nature, along with those of Cinder, Mercury, Emerald and Neo could be explained by his **[Observation]** skill.

* * *

Pushing open the door to the inn, Edward could see that the establishment was rather comfy, for an inn. A reception desk made from oak situated at the end of the room, while a staircase led upstairs to the right of the desk. A young male adult was situated behind the desk, and as his bored eyes noticing the new arrival, the receptionist immediately straightened his posture and put on a fake smile meant to enhance the homey feeling that the rest of the lobby was trying to give off.

"Welcome to the Buried Hatchet Inn good sir, are you here for a room?" the lobbyist asked, no doubt trying to get rid of him as quickly as possible, while getting the inn some customers.

"Yes, I'm not really looking for a fancy room, just a simple room for a single person. Do you take hard cash, and what's your policy on long stays?" Edward asked, showing the minimum amount of courtesy, while trying to get his answers quickly.

The lobbyist's smile waned a little, no doubt disappointed that he couldn't be able to try and pitch one of their more expensive rooms. "Well, the standard single room is eighty Lien **(** **Ⱡ** **)** per night, in addition to other possible expenses, like extra products or buffet, which will be added to the amount you need to pay at the end of the day," he explained. "And yes, we do take cash."

Edward nodded, putting his hand into his pocket, opened his **[Inventory]** and handed the required funds to the lobbyist, who counted the amount.

"Thank you for your patronage, your room is on the second floor, number 239." The receptionist said, handing Edward a key with a number tag hanging from it with his room's number. Accepting the key, Edward walked to the staircase and exited the lobby.

After the sound of Edward's footsteps disappeared, the receptionist sighed as his shoulder slumped. "Geez, talk about a man of few words."

* * *

After a short while of looking around the second floor, Edward managed to find room #239, which was a medium-sized room with a single bed, a built-in bathroom and shower, and a window that allowed him a view of the actual town part of Patch and a rather large castle-like building. He assumed that to be Signal Academy since that was the only thing that would fit, aside from some big corporation—or possibly a museum—but he was fairly sure that it was Signal, as it would make sense to have the Huntsman Academy to be near a place full of people, not only to cut down on the amount of time that people would have to spend entering and leaving it, but also to make sure that Patch would have a constant presence of skilled warriors to deal with any danger if anyone was even crazy enough to form a community outside of the kingdoms.

 _'Alright, Yang and Ruby should be a good distance away now.'_ Edward thought to himself, shutting the curtains over the window to ensure that nobody would accidentally see him disengaging the party. Sure, the only thing the peeper would see would be him looking at the floor, but he'd rather not have someone see him disappearing and reappearing constantly like a flickering video image as he grinded up his ID skills up.

He had a few ideas for some equipment, but he needed Soul Stones, or some other magical stones for his ideas, and he'd rather not mess around with Dust, especially Fire Dust, which was, as far as he knew, the only type of Dust that could possibly fit. He'd rather not have his experiments blow up in his face, or his legs simply due to Dust not reacting correctly to Mana.

" **[Disband Party]**." Edward muttered, briefly wondering if there was a less vocal way of controlling the Gamer system. Oh sure, physically commanding it gave a sort of a safe feeling, the assurance that he wasn't just doing shit at random. Plus, it was practically the novel feeling of _"hey, fucking Tron just became real!"_ that just tugged at his inner child the right way, whom he might have to kill or suffocate in the long run. Couldn't afford to let that kind of tendencies to influence his actions.

 **[Disband party with Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose?]**

 **[Confirm/Y] [Cancel/N]**

Edward didn't even hesitate as he pressed confirm, getting the notification _"the Party has disbanded"_ , only afterwards pondering if Yang and Ruby got any kind of notification of him personally disbanding the party, or just the same notification that he got. He really hoped that it wasn't a notification that would imply that he did it on purpose, even if he could try and lie that he didn't know what he did until it was too late, since his actions pretty much all but said that he knew what his Semblance did, in exchange for his "memories". It wouldn't reflect well on him if he seemed to not to know such a basic detail about his Semblance.

 _'Now then, time to plan out how I'll fight in IDs…'_ Edward thought as he sat on the room's bed. Obviously, he was going to use this small alone-time period to check whether his Gamer's Body passive skill removed the physical need for sleep, and if it did, then whether it completely removed it, or simply lessened it. Regardless, he'd have to go into the IDs at night, if only to avoid anyone coming to look for him. And obviously, he'd be using Verde Carnicero as his main weapon, although until he could acquire extra ammo clips, he'd use his magic skills for long-range attacks to save on ammo.

It would obviously lessen the amount of EXP he'd get into his gun-related skills, but he'd rather save on the amount of Lien he'd have to spend on ammunition, among other things, considering how costly Dust would become once Roman and whatever lowlifes he managed to recruit started grabbing every speck of Dust available. Honestly, it was an ingenious plan, not only taking resources away from the opposition, (the Huntsmen, Huntresses, military and civilians in general) but also use the stolen Dust to construct bombs to allow your troops (the Grimm) to enter a heavily populated area of the city, previously inaccessible by the Grimm, and then possibly using whatever was left over to arm the White Fang idiots.

Thankfully, the bombs would be deployed before schedule due to the interference of team RWBY, Doctor Oobleck, and Zwei, and yes, the Grimm no doubt caused quite a lot of damage, but at least they attacked while there were some Huntsmen students in Vale.

And although the damage caused by the sudden attack could've been far worse, it still resulted in _"good old capitan Tindick"_ and his wind-up soldiers to be given full charge of the security system. Oh sure, Ozpin wasn't exactly the most trustworthy individual, but at least he knew what they were up against, but still the fool did _NOTHING_! That idiot let Cinder and her crew run around the Academy as they damn well pleased, infect the CCT, and hell, Salem probably had the Haven headmaster in her pocket, if Cinder and her crew masquerading as Haven students didn't send off any alarm bells in any of the other Haven students or possible faculty sent over to Vale.

Although, that did propose a question. While Cinder's loyalty to Salem could be explained by Cinder being picked up by Salem at a young age, the Haven Academy's headmaster—and whoever built the Black Queen virus—their reasons for supporting Salem were a mystery, as no rational human being would aid someone who was aiming to tear down the Kingdoms' walls and let the Grimm fest upon those who survived the initial attacks.

"I should focus on that afterwards. For now, I should stick to leveling **[ID Create]**." Edward sighed as he faded from the real world, and into his Illusion Barrier, less than enthusiastic about the coming hours of looping ID Create and ID Escape.

* * *

 **[2 Hours, 99 ID Creates and 100 ID Escapes later…]**

 **[ID Create has reached Level 2!]** **  
The following IDs have been unlocked:**

 **Zombie ID; Night of the Living Dead  
Ghost ID; Mansion of Restless Spirits  
Combined ID; Graveyard Jamboree**

"Well, time to get grinding like a proper adventurer, **[ID Create: Zombie]**." The room was momentarily blanketed in a thick mist, but before he could comment on it, the mist faded away to reveal a beautiful night sky with a pale moon hanging above the sky, illuminating the area, which was modeled as a small suburban area, with the only elevated spots being walls and house roofs, the streets littered with shambling humanoids of varying genders, mostly clothed in ragged clothes.

"Well, these are… rather disappointing." Edward muttered as he stood at the entrance of the mock town, observing the levels of the Zombies that were walking about, most of them at Level 4-5, with the occasional Level 8 shambling about. But thankfully, these Zombies only had 15 HP per Level, so at least there were small mercies. As soon as he stepped into town, one of the Zombies noticed him, and well, it couldn't be classified as charging, but the male zombie was moving at him at a moderately fast speed, only cumbered by its left leg, so… fast-paced limping?

Whatever the correct term was, Edward charged at the Level 3 Zombie, introducing it to the blade of his weapon with a swing, sending the zombie's head flying as the rest of its corpse collapsed to the ground, fading in black smoke, leaving behind only a rib and a small purple shard, which then disappeared into his Inventory in a flicker of green light.

Noticing the demise of their fellow corpse, eight more zombies started shambling towards him, four Level 4, three Level 5 and a single Level 7. Rolling his shoulders, Edward charged to meet them, soon enough settling into a rhythm, swinging his axe at the head of the closest Zombie, using 3-D's Grace to grab any zombies who got too close for comfort by their heads, smashing them together like rotten eggs, then rinse and repeat as more and more zombies leapt into the mix. The stream of zombies died down after 2 or 3 minutes or so, earning Edward a total of 1155 EXP, getting him to level 14, 8 Teeth of the Dead, 3 Zombie ribs, and 2 Soul Stones.

"Whelp, I guess it's a good opportunity to test out whether I need sleep." Edward sighed in frustration as he started running towards one of the houses that were in the arena, before he got surrounded by zombies. He'd rather have the higher ground to funnel the zombies through, as fighting them on even grounds would sooner or later leave him surrounded by the undead buggers.

Using his Stand to boost himself over the steel fence of the house, and then onto the roof. Turning to look, Edward saw three zombies shambling towards the gate, all of them Level 5. Forming a **[Energy Blast]** , he imagined the sphere turning into a cuboid shape, and responding to his will, the construct of Mana did so, and then, into three equally sized cubes.

"Alright, let's give this a test drive, **[Energy Blast: Asteroid]** , firing!" pushing his hand, the cubes shot off towards the zombies, punching through one of them, completely obliterating one of them, blowing off the right arm of the second one, and taking out the legs of the third one.

The now one-armed zombie didn't even register the loss of its limb, shambling towards Edward's location, and it was the same for the legless zombie, which was now crawling. Sighing in disappointment, Edward charged made another **[EB: Asteroid]** , this time making only two cubes and shot them forward, this time eliminating the Zombies.

"Well, at least I got another Soul Stone." And two Zombie ribs. Sighing, he settled into a comfortable position to start sniping Zombies from, more than cautious about accidentally causing every single Zombie to go into a frenzy, and coming after him. Plus, there was the Legion Zombie to worry about, so he should probably only stay below 100 kills, then use **[ID Escape]** , and then depending on what time it was, pop into another Zombie ID, then rinse and repeat.

This was going to be a long night…

* * *

 **[Elsewhere on Patch…]**

"Good night dad, good night Yang," Ruby said as she put her emptied glass of milk in the sink, already feeling sleepy. Walking towards her room, she stopped as Zwei sat in front of her, looking up at her with his beady eyes, tongue rolling out of his mouth. "And good night Zwei, who's a smart little doggie? You are! Yes, you are." Ruby cooed, scratching Zwei's belly before she went off to sleep, leaving Yang and her dad in the kitchen.

After waiting to make sure that Ruby had indeed fallen asleep, Taiyang turned towards Yang, who sat across the table. "So, about this guy, Edward, you and Ruby met back in Vale. Is what Ruby said correct?" he asked, wanting to hear a less childish version of the events. While he loved both of his girls to death, Ruby was tad bit… enthusiastic when she talked about things she considered cool, and while the idea of a Semblance allowing its user to possess the characteristics of a video game character, he wasn't sure if that was what the Semblance really did.

Not that it would be the weirdest Semblance he had seen, not by a long shot. He still remembered that one kid from Signal who could turn his Aura into soap bubbles of all things.

(The halls of Signal Academy were practically so clean that you could eat from them, not that anyone did, as they were too busy slipping on the floor.)

"Well, if you ask me, it's more like magic or something," Yang didn't notice her dad tightening up at the word _"magic"_. "but yeah, it has pretty much everything you'd find from one of Ruby's games, stats, levels, EXP, Quests, an Inventory, which I used to transport Bumblebee from Vale to Patch, and a Party system." As Yang listed off the last two parts of her description, Taiyang took special interest.

"Wait, a party system, you mean he could share his Semblance to you and Ruby?" Taiyang decided to address the bigger one of the two things he noticed. While the idea of a Semblance that functioned as an enlarged storage space, that if he understood correctly, functioned by simply shoving their hand into thin air to access the items inside of said storage space was rather mind-boggling, similar Semblances did exist, like one that could deconstruct things the user touched into the base materials, absorb them and later retrieve from their body.

But what drew his attention more, was that this guy could apparently share that ability with others. Now, Semblances that affected more than their users weren't all that unusual, healer-types popped up every now and then, and sometimes when people with Semblances that gave them unique immune systems popped up, they usually worked closely with medical teams to research new antidotes.

And it wasn't like Semblances that had multiple abilities were unheard of, and just like Qrow's, this "Gamer" was also based on a concept, but instead of Misfortune, it was apparently Games, so he at least felt a little safer with his girls hanging with this guy…

But that sure didn't mean that he wouldn't be keeping an eye on them.

Yang was more than old enough to handle hormonal boys, but not his sweet innocent Ruby! If only he could 've found the right parts for the spring-loaded scythe, then he'd have the perfect chastity belt for his baby for when she'd go off to Beacon, where he'd be unable to keep any horn dogs away from her.

"Yeah, I mean, we could see our own stat sheets and use the Inventory. But, it seems like it's doesn't stick around for long, got a notification about it on the way back here." Yang explained. She and Ruby had kind of figured that Ed had went to sleep, or that there was some kind of range limit to the party function.

"I see…" Taiyang nodded, coming up with the same theories that Yang and Ruby had, but also with one other theory. Said theory being that Edward had disbanded the party on purpose, as to block any chances of Ruby or Yang being able to track what he was doing when they weren't around… well, things _other_ than what young men usually did when they were alone with some free time.

"So, uh, dad, I've got a question of my own…" Yang trailed off, somewhat nervous about what she was about to ask. See, she had been thinking about some things after the stuff about Ruby's special eyes was revealed, and well, she found a lot more questions than answers, and the only living people that could possibly answer any of those questions were either off on some Huntsman job, or sitting right in front of her.

"Sure Yang, what is it?" Taiyang asked, noticing how nervous her eldest daughter was.

"What do you know about the Silver-eyed warriors, you know, the ones from stories?" The question caught Taiyang off-guard, and for a moment, his mind flashed back to another place and time, a much more innocent and simpler time, and instead of his girl asking the question, it was his coffee-addicted headmaster _(who was still denying his addiction)._

 _"What is your favorite fairy tail?"_

Coming back from the memory lane, Taiyang scratched his head, trying to figure out how to handle this. Obviously, he couldn't just play it off as a joke, since if these _"stat sheets"_ truly showed everything about the person they were about, down to any… _"special"_ abilities, then it was only wise to assume that not only did his baby girls know, or at the very least, had a peek into the world he had hoped to keep them both away from, but they were pushed into it by this new guy.

 _'Summer, I'm sorry.'_ Taiyang sighed as he composed himself, finally ready to give an answer to the best of his abilities, while withholding enough so that his daughter could still back out. He knew that Ruby wouldn't be able to walk away from this, and not just because of her eyes, but because of who she was as a person, so much like her mother. If someone needed help, they'd charge right into the thicket, shining with positivity and with hope of a better tomorrow. And, as much as it pained him, he knew that Yang would be right there beside her baby sister, so the very least he could, and should do is make sure that she knew what she and Ruby would be getting into, unlike him and his old team did so many years back.

"It's…complicated. I'd rather explain this with, you, Ruby and that Edward guy here, for conveniences sake." Seeing Yang hardening her eyes, he decided to extrapolate a bit. "I'm going to give a small explanation, and if you still want more, then ask Professor Ozpin at Beacon, just ask him _"What's your favorite fairy tale"_ , and he should be able to give a better explanation."

While Yang was still unsatisfied with the answer her father gave her, she could tell that whatever the story behind this mystery was, it was painful to him, and so, she nodded in understanding.

As Yang headed off to bed, Taiyang sighed and opened his Scroll, and sent a message.

* * *

 _«_ _"New white pieces have been added. One Pawn ready for promotion, one Rook, one unknown."»_

* * *

 **AN: So, how was the chapter? I hope it was to your liking. Now, I know that ID scenes are cliché among the Gamer fics, but I still feel like portraying at least the first escapade into the Instant Dungeons is mandatory, if only to show the difference between ID opponents and the "RL" opponents.**

 **And speaking of ID opponents, I have a bit of a special system in place for them. See, while "RL" opponents will drop 10 EXP per level, ID monsters will drop much more than that, the amount depending on the type of monster, and whether or not it's just a common mook, or a Dungeon boss.**

 **Thankfully, I have made a small chart.**

 **Basic Mook monsters: 15 EXP per level.  
Elite Mook monsters: 20 EXP per level.  
Dungeon bosses: 50 EXP per level.  
Rare Dungeon bosses: 150 EXP per level, plus specific bonuses depending on the RD-boss.**

 **So yeah, bit of a spoiler here, in my system, there will be four categories of ID monsters and opponents. The basic mooks, are basically self-explanatory, the weak-ass monsters that you'll first encounter in a dungeon, like the civilian Zombies Edward fought in this chapter. Elite mooks are kinda like mini-bosses, only less difficult, but they spawn in groups, so something like a Huntsman Zombie, to make a RWBY-related example.**

 **Dungeon Bosses are also kinda self-explanatory, Legion Zombies and such. Now, the Rare Dungeon bosses are pretty damn rare, and for that to spawn, well, let's just say that if ID monsters didn't turn into black smoke upon defeat, the ground would be completely covered in mountains of Zombies before a Rare Dungeon Boss would spawn, and no, I'm not revealing what that will be.**

 **Now, onto the latter part of the chapter, yes, I think that Taiyang is "in the know" about Salem and such, which is kinda evident by where and how he and his family live. On Patch, which is a small and rather unremarkable island, but still near to Vale, and more importantly, Beacon. And on top of that, they live in a house in the middle of the forest, far enough to prevent someone accidentally noticing Ruby's Silver eyes, but still close enough as to not draw any special attention, and in case they need medicine, a quick trip away from civilization.**

 **Plus, pretty good and calm atmosphere, not to mention a beautiful scenery in autumn, with the red and orange leaves, just great and relaxing.**

 **And no, I'm not getting into the argument/theory debate of "Is Ruby's true father Taiyang, or is it Qrow?", as I think it doesn't matter in the big picture. I mean, if Ruby wasn't Taiyang's daughter by blood, then I'd say that she is one in everything else but blood, and the same goes for Qrow.**

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 **Anyway, I have some...unfortunate news to deliver…**

 **I might be putting this story on Hiatus. See, I got some "elements" of this story to re-design, and hammer out some details.**

 **But hey, that just means more DxD updates, so I guess you guys get what you want, me stopping updating this story, and instead focusing on something that I made on a whim.**

 **And I'm also considering putting Tower of Gamer on hiatus, as to allow the story to progress further, since it seems to be hitting a plot-heavy period.**

 **Also, if anybody's asking about the loot the Zombies dropped, and their levels, I rolled online Dices for whenever I didn't specify how many of them jumped in, so here are some kill statistics, and a stat sheet of the Mook Zombies.**

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 **/ID Undead\  
Mook Zombie LV: 4-8  
EXP: -/-**

 **HP: 60-120  
MP: 0**

 **STR: 52-104  
INT: -  
VIT: 20-40  
WIS: -  
DEX: 10-20  
AGI: 6-10**

 **EXP Yield: 60-120(15 per Level)  
Item Drops:  
-Tooth of the Dead{Common]  
-Zombie rib{Uncommon]  
-Soul Stone(Small){Rare]  
-Zombie Full Loot Pack {Drops only by defeating the Zombie without destroying the body.]**

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 **And here's a list of Zombies killed:16**

 **Eight Level 4s  
Seven Level 5s  
Three Level 6s  
One Level 7**

 **Total EXP gained: 1380**

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 **Item drop dice rolls:**

 **1-2: Nothing.  
3-4: Tooth of the Dead  
5: Zombie rib  
6: Soul Stone**

 **Total items gained: 8 Teeth, 6 Ribs, 4 Soul Stones**

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 **And finally, the Stat screen for Edward, at the last point we saw him:**

 **Edward Smith LV: 14  
EXP: 1055/1400  
Stand: 3-D's Grace**

 **HP: 150  
MP: 120/120  
Aura: 237**

 **STR: 11  
INT: 30  
VIT: 10  
WIS: 31  
DEX: 12  
AGI: 10**

 **Points: 39  
Lien: 26100**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:** **  
Aura Unlocked: Your Aura has been unlocked, thus giving you limited protection from bullets.{Damage lower than your current Aura is deducted from your Aura, until it hits 0, then you will take damage normally.}**

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 **So yeah, I'm going on a slight hiatus with this story. But, if you want some weekly stuff from me, go onto Sufficient Velocity, where I have started a Gundam IBO quest, but it doesn't have the Gamer, but hey, weekly stuff.**

 **Also, just a heads-up, I'll be probably be doing something new with the next chapter of Quincy DxD, mainly with the attention mostly on the canonical DxD cast, and their reactions to Q-Edward.**

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 **Anyway, here's my question for the chapter:  
** **Would you guys be interested in me doing a Naruto/Persona-or Kiba/The Gamer Gender-bender S-I fic? I've been throwing the idea around in my head, but the idea has been sticking in my head, might make it into a Quest on SV, where I think I'll be posting the ideas that randomly pop in my head and stick around for long enough.**

 **And for those of who don't know what Kiba is, let me give you a quick run-down; It's basically the hipster Isekai anime, but the only thing I'd take would be the Spirits and Shard-casting. And as for why the Gender-bending, well…let's just say that I got a weird little plan in my head.**

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 **DarkLord98 OUT!**


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